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Aston University spin-out wins start-up prize at life sciences and medical technology industry awards show

May 22, 2024

2 min

Ali Al-Khattawi



  • MESOX, a spin-out from the pharmaceutics group at Aston Pharmacy School, develops drug carrier technology to improve medicine formulations
  • The company won the Start-Up prize at the Medilink Midlands Awards 2024
  • The prize is awarded to a new company that shows a promising future.


A spin-out company from Aston University’s pharmaceutics research group has won a medical technology and life sciences industry award.


MESOX, which was founded by Aston University pharmaceutics lecturer Dr Ali Al-Khattawi, won the Medilink Midlands Start-Up Award, which is presented to a newly established company that shows a promising future. The Medilink Midlands Business Awards showcase the best collaborations between industry, academia and the NHS across the Midlands. This year’s ceremony was held at the Athena in Leicester on 9 May.


The awards were established by Medilink Midlands, which provides specialist business support to boost the region’s economic output from the life sciences industry. Working alongside the Midlands Engine and other strategic alliances, it helps stimulate additional and value-added growth of the Midlands as a prosperous community for life sciences.


With in-depth expertise in particle engineering for drug delivery and pharmaceutical spray drying, MESOX uses IP-protected carriers to improve the bioavailability and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, partnering with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to bring challenging therapeutics to market.


In its citation, Medilink Midlands described MESOX as “transforming pharmaceutical formulation with its game-changing carrier technologies.”


As a winner of a Medilink Midlands award, MESOX will now be entered into the UK National Awards, the ceremony of which takes place on 11 July 2024 in London.


Dr Al-Khattawi said:


“We are delighted to have won this prestigious award, which highlights the outstanding research and development work being done by the MESOX team and the immense potential of our company to transform the medicine formulation development landscape. Through collaboration with other pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, academic researchers, and by engaging directly with patients to understand their needs, we aim to innovate and advance drug delivery science into life-saving therapeutics.


“At MESOX, our ambition is to be a global, research-based pharmaceutical company rooted in the Midlands, dedicated to developing life-saving therapeutics at speed and resource-efficiency. Our ultimate goal is to enable healthier lives for patients worldwide and ensure better global access to essential medicines.”

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Ali Al-Khattawi

Ali Al-Khattawi

Lecturer in Pharmaceutics

Dr Al-Khattawi's research interests are on the development of innovative particle design and fabrication strategies.

PharamaceuticalsPharmaceutical ProductsPharmaceutical Particle EngineeringFabrication Strategies

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