The Centre for Biomedical Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (CBAMS) has been funded through guaranteed contracts with pharmaceutical companies.

This type of mass spectrometry will allow researchers to study the effectiveness of new drug compounds as they go through the human body.

By "labelling" the compounds with radioactive isotopes such as carbon-14 and hydrogen-3, it becomes possible to monitor the progress of chemicals and establish whether or not they reach their intended targets.

The accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS), which cost $2.75m, is between one hundred thousand and one million times more sensitive than the traditional instruments currently in use.

This allows the radioactive dosages normally used in such studies to be greatly reduced - from micro-curies to nano-curies.

This means scientists can conduct a number of repeat studies on the same patient - something which has been difficult given the current regulations governing the use of radioactive materials.

Development time and cost

Identifying promising new drugs that could lead to life-saving treatments in the future can take eight to ten years and cost as much as £200m.

"For the first time, pharmaceutical and other biomedical research companies all over the world can access a technique which will speed up drug investigations significantly," said Professor Colin Garner, chief executive officer of CBAMS.

"The technique will also make such investigations safer."

The AMS is located at the Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton, York. The companies that have funded the new centre include Glaxo Wellcome, Pfizer, Novartis and Janssen Pharmaceutica.

"The payback is the amount of samples that they'll be able to put through it," said John Houlihan from the laboratory. "Instead of being charged, they just have the work done for nothing - which repays the debt over time."

This will be the first AMS machine in Europe to be used for biological science and medical research. It will also prove useful to scientists working in plant biochemistry, geology, climatology, archaeology and agriculture.

"We would be interested in looking at the dynamics of pesticides in man because we obviously have a concern about how they are metabolised in the professional operator," said John Houlihan.

"This would be the first time we would be able to carry out these sorts of studies realistically."