Cayman Chemical Company

Last updated
Cayman Chemical Company
Founded1980;44 years ago (1980)
Headquarters1180 E. Ellsworth
Ann Arbor, Michigan
United States
Key people
Kirk M. Maxey
(President & CEO)
Revenue$47 million
Number of employees
400+
Subsidiaries Cayman Pharma
Cayman Europe
Matreya LLC
Website www.caymanchem.com

Cayman Chemical Company is an American biotechnology company founded in 1980, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. [1] The company provides chemicals that are used primarily by universities and pharmaceutical companies for research and the development of medicines. [2] [3] The company is also known as a provider of reference standards to state and federal crime labs for use in the detection of rapidly evolving designer drugs. Small quantities of these known reference standards are analyzed using mass spectrometry and gas chromatography techniques to match against forensic evidence, usually confiscated by law enforcement, or forensic toxicological evidence collected in the form of biological samples such as urine, blood, or tissue.

Contents

History

Cayman Chemical Company was incorporated on June 6, 1980, in Denver, Colorado. It was initially a marine natural products company. Building on earlier environmental studies in the North Sound of Grand Cayman Island, Cayman initially sold prostaglandin standards as research chemicals. [4] The company operated in Denver for several years before relocating to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Commercializing the patented work of Philippe Pradelles and others, Cayman exploited the acetylcholinesterase enzyme of electric eels to develop a range of sensitive enzyme immunoassays for prostaglandins in the late 1980s. [5] The availability of these assays enabled the development of Celebrex by Searle/Monsanto, relying on measurements of prostaglandin E2 and thromboxane B2, and of Singulair by Merck & Co, relying on measurements of unstable leukotrienes. [6]

Subsidiaries

Cayman Europe

Cayman Europe was established in January, 2005 in Tallinn, Estonia. Their operations focus on the distribution of Cayman Chemical products in Europe.[ citation needed ]

Cayman Pharma

Facilities are located in Neratovice, a town 18 miles north of Prague in the Czech Republic. Production is focused on pharmaceutical ingredients for generic drug formulators, specifically bulk prostaglandins.

Matreya LLC

Matreya, LLC is a lipid biochemical company offering a comprehensive line of sphingolipids, glycosphingolipids, gangliosides, globotriaosylceramides, fatty acids, and sterols. [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostaglandin</span> Group of physiologically active lipid compounds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ELISA</span> Method to detect an antigen using an antibody and enzyme

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References

  1. Freed, Ben (5 June 2012). "Cayman Chemical plans to expand in Pittsfield Township". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  2. Robert Scott Hudson (2006). Anti-tumorigenic Activity of Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Mechanism and Role in Modulating Colorectal Cancer Chemotherapy. pp. 48–. ISBN   978-0-542-78381-4.
  3. Amitava Dasgupta; Kimberly Klein (11 February 2014). Antioxidants in Food, Vitamins and Supplements: Prevention and Treatment of Disease. Academic Press. pp. 35–. ISBN   978-0-12-405917-7.
  4. Prostaglandins from Plexaura Homomalla: Ecology, utilization, and Conservation of a Major Medical Marine Resource. University of Miami Press. 1974.
  5. Pradelles, Phillippe; Jaques Grassi; Jaques Maclouf (1985). "Enzyme immunoassays of eicosanoids using acetylcholine esterase as label: an alternative to radioimmunoassay". Analytical Chemistry. 57 (7): 1170–1173. doi:10.1021/ac00284a003. PMID   3898913.
  6. Brideau, Christine; Carlo Van Staden; Chi Chung Chan (November 2001). "In vitro effects of cyclooxygenase inhibitors in whole blood of horses, dogs, and cats". American Journal of Veterinary Research. 62 (11): 1755–1760. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.2001.62.1755 . PMID   11703020.
  7. "Matreya LLC is now a part of Cayman Chemical". www.caymanchem.com. Retrieved 2021-07-22.