Materia, which commercializes olefin metathesis catalyst technology, has secured a funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in order to develop functional polymers for organic synthesis. This grant is given for a Phase II Fast Track Small Business Technology Transfer.
The focus of this new Phase II program will be on process development, scale up and beta testing of polymer, with the help of main industrial partners. This program is a phase I combined effort between Professor Paul Hanson from the University of Kansas and Materia.
According to the CEO of Materia, Dr. Michael Giardello, the company has valued the vision and continuous support of NIH. High functional group content is offered by these materials, which improved compatibility of solvent when compared to modern polystyrene-bound reagents, and decreased swelling. Finally, the commercialization of these materials may accelerate the timeframe as a result of which customers will be getting fresh therapeutic agents, he added.
Professor Hanson stated that the university is delighted to continue the partnership with Materia. The new and challenging science will be additionally developed by Materia. The efforts will be driven by the capability of the company in polymerization, commercialization and scale up, according to Hanson.
The olefin metathesis catalyst technology enables the synthesis of chemical compounds with higher efficiency, decreased harmful waste and byproducts.