Founders blog - Venomtech’s 10th Birthday
It is with great pride that I set about writing the blog for our 10th birthday at Venomtech. The last decade has flown by with many adventures and successful ventures behind us. The last 12 months have seen many milestones such as our first PhD student successfully defending their thesis and two others finishing their labwork and nearly ready to submit. Three MSc students successfully submitted their thesis and are currently being assessed. Our partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University and University of Reading allows us to generate new data for publications as well as helping the students discover the exciting world of venom research. These have included finding therapeutic effects of venoms in blood clotting, breast cancer, Pancreatic cancer and novel antibiotics. Also, characterisation of a new venomous animal, paper to follow. We also have two more MSc students currently working on novel Cnidarian (Jellyfish, corals and anemones) venoms and venoms as therapeutics for canine breast cancer.
We have continued to serve a global market and with the helpful support of Discovery Park we have attended many conferences to meet new clients. Being such a unique company we do spend a lot of time showing people how venoms can be useful in drug discovery, many people don’t realise that the first ever medications for high blood pressure (ACE inhibitors) owe their discovery to snake venom, clot buster drugs from rattlesnakes have also saved many lives already. However being a small company we still need more people to know who we are and how we can help them. Not long after the 9th birthday blog we had a huge uptick in web traffic on a surprising topic.
In Early 2019 the huge online portal that is LADbible picked up on the fact that we have a venom inspired chilli sauce and suddenly a few hundred hits a year turned into 15,000 in a month, and global demand for our Scientific Sauce far outstripped our ability to produce, with bottles even getting across the Atlantic and into Australia. Steve’s Scientific Sauce continues to sell well and now gets me invitations to give lectures on the science behind chilli, pain and venom. www.http://stevesscientificsauce.com/
We are very thankful to everyone that has supported us through a decade of adventures in venom science. We have great plans for growth in the year ahead as our main markets are growing as more scientists see how venom peptides help them solve problems in drug discovery, developing new pesticides and novel cosmetic active ingredients. We have many more exciting scientific discoveries to tell you about in 2020 and we look forward to sharing them with you.
Steve Trim
Founder