We are delighted to welcome Darren Andrews as the newest Associate Member of CPACT
Darren Andrews has over
twenty years of experience in developing and launching new spectroscopy and
analytical technologies for the pharmaceutical industry. He specialises in
translating analytical innovations into products that meet the requirements of pharma
environments.
He co-founded and served
as an executive director on the board of Cobalt Light Systems, where he helped
develop and launch two novel spectroscopic technologies for pharmaceutical
quality control. The first, Transmission Raman Spectroscopy (TRS), is used for
quality control and at-line release testing of intact oral solid dose
formulations, often as an alternative to HPLC. The second, Spatially Offset
Raman Spectroscopy (SORS), enables the verification of raw material identity
through packaging, eliminating the need to open or sample containers. Cobalt
was later acquired by Agilent Technologies, where Darren led global strategy
and technology investments for the spectroscopy division.
Currently, Darren
supports companies as a strategic advisor and C-level director, focusing on
commercialisation, fundraising, and partnerships. He is actively involved with
multiple businesses in the field of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) manufacturing and
analysis. He led the development and commercialisation of Marama Labs’
Scatter-Free Absorption UV/Vis technology (SFA), which enables rapid assays of
RNA payloads and targeting ligands for formulation and quality control
analysis. Darren also co-founded NanoFormiX, a lipid nanoparticle manufacturing
technology company improving on the tools that are already on the market.
Darren holds a degree in
Chemistry and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University, where he
developed short-pulse lasers for ultrafast kinetics measurements.
He looks forward to
contributing to CPACT’s activities, particularly in fostering industry-academic
collaboration, developing translational strategies, and scaling new analytical
technologies.