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Partnership aims to improve preclinical liver toxicity testing methods
NEWS/IN BRIEF
In Brief BluMetric makes management changes Canadian cleantech company BluMetric Environmental Inc has appointed Roger Woeller as its CEO, with the move of William Touzel, formerly co-CEO with Woeller, to the post of Senior Advisor, Strategic Development. The company says this change streamlines its senior management team, whilst moving to take advantage of new opportunities in several areas, including wastewater infrastructure enhancement projects and the renewable energy sector. Toray’s subsidiary completes purchase of shares in Korea’s Woongjin Chemical Japan’s Toray Industries Inc recently announced that Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc (TAK) – its consolidated subsidiary based in Korea – has completed the process of purchasing a 56% stake in Woongjin Chemical Co Ltd, based in Seoul, Korea (also see Membrane Technology January 2014, page 6). TAK’s acquisition of the stake is expected to have negligible impact on Toray’s consolidated business performance in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2014. Aquaporin is granted patent in India for its technology Danish Cleantech firm Aquaporin A/s recently announced that it has been granted Indian Patent No. 258338 – entitled ‘Biomimetic water membrane comprising aquaporins used in the production of salinity power’ – by the Indian Patent Office. The company says this patent, granted in January, is its first in India and opens up a world of opportunities in a huge market in need of environmentally feasible solutions to energy scarcity problems primarily caused by industrialisation and an increasing population. The Aquaporin Inside membrane technology covered by the granted patent offers a solution to the existing challenges of providing efficient membranes for the salinity power process. Aquaporin says it is also pursuing the use of its membranes to solve the problem of water scarcity in India. According to the firm, the country represents the ideal market for its technology. Degrémont wins contract to build drinking-water plant in Belgium The Compagnie Intercommunale Liégeoise des Eaux has awarded Degrémont Sas, a subsidiary of French utility company Suez Environnement Sa, the public contract to build a drinking-water production plant for the municipality of Ans, in Liége, Belgium, in partnership with Balteau and Galère, part of the BAM Group. The contract is worth E26 million in total, including E6 million for Degrémont.
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Membrane Technology
expertise in water-related technologies with its extensive polymer research know-how, focusing on specific customer requirements whilst considering environmental aspects. It complements the firm’s existing flocculant range to better serve future equipment trends in the dewatering market. Because of its effective bridging capabilities, Zetag Ultra shows advanced dewatering performance. It offers strong floc integrity to withstand high shear forces, which makes it especially effective in centrifuge applications and dissolved air flotation. ‘Today, industrial and municipal water treatment plants are challenged to achieve maximum performance under increasing cost pressure,’ said Marcus Fuest, Head, Global Industry Marketing, Water Solutions, BASF. ‘Zetag Ultra has proven its excellent performance in a variety of extensive plant trials worldwide. Our customers report that cake solids of dewatered sludge increased on average by 15%. Other customer cases show a significant dose saving of up to 20%. Furthermore the centrate has an improved capture rate.’ Contact: BASF Se, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany. Tel: +49 621 60 0, www.watersolutions.basf. com, www.basf.com
Partnership aims to improve preclinical liver toxicity testing methods
E
MD Millipore, the life sciences division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, recently received a grant of $400 000 from the US-based Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to fund a partnership with Promethera Biosciences Sa/Nv, a Belgian pharmaceuticals company that focuses on developing and commercialising cell therapy products to treat liver diseases in an innovative way. This is one of four grants given to life sciences companies in Massachusetts to fund international collaboration as part of MLSC’s International Collaborative Industrial Program (ICIP). Through this collaboration EMD Millipore’s micro-fluidic technology will enable researchers at Promethera Biosciences to mimic the liver microenvironment long-term, enabling increased consistency and scale-up potential for live cell models. Using liver stem cells provided by Promethera Biosciences and EMD Millipore’s Cellasic microfluidic cell culture platform, both organisations
are seeking to improve preclinical liver toxicity testing methods. According to the companies, current methods for liver toxicity testing are limited by technical challenges that the Cellasic platform can address. ‘The opportunity to work closely with Promethera Biosciences over the course of the project speaks to the nature of our organisation: enabling our partners to conduct potentially life-saving research,’ commented Robert Yates, President and CEO, EMD Millipore. ‘We are looking forward to building our relationship and more importantly to the outcomes this partnership has the potential to deliver. A sincere thanks to the MLSC for the opportunity to see what this collaboration can achieve and, more importantly, the continued support of the Massachusetts Life Sciences industry.’ Eric Halioua, CEO, Promethera Biosciences, said: ‘We are pleased to initiate this collaboration with EMD Millipore and combine expertise to develop a ready-to-use liver-based device. We sincerely thank the Walloon region and the MLSC for the funding of this innovative project.’ Dr Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO, MLSC, added: ‘The partnership between EMD Millipore and Promethera Biosciences will help bring new health technologies to the market along with economic benefits for Massachusetts.’ ‘We are also excited to announce the second year of the ICIP, including two new partner regions in Israel and Medicon Valley. No one country or region can address on its own the urgent health challenges that still face our global community, and we are pleased to be partnering with some of the world’s leading regions in life sciences innovation.’ This effort will span many functions and sites within the EMD Millipore network, including experts – both business and technical – in cell analysis instrumentation, research content, cell culture systems, and a handful of external collaborations with pharmaceuticals sites, including sister-company EMD Serono. This partnership was conceived by and submitted to the MLSC by Tim Galitski, Head of Science and Technology, EMD Millipore and Phillip Lee, the company’s new business initiative lead for micro-fluidic technologies. Contacts: EMD Millipore, 290 Concord Road, Billerica, MA 01821, USA. Tel: +1 978 715 4321, www.millipore.com Merck KgaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany. Tel: +49 6151 720, www.merck.de Promethera Biosciences Sa/Nv, Watson & Crick Hill, Rue Granbonpré 11, B-1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium. Tel: +32 10 39 43 00, www.promethera.com
May 2014
In Brief BluMetric makes management changes Canadian cleantech company BluMetric Environmental Inc has appointed Roger Woeller as its CEO, with the move of William Touzel, formerly co-CEO with Woeller, to the post of Senior Advisor, Strategic Development. The company says this change streamlines its senior management team, whilst moving to take advantage of new opportunities in several areas, including wastewater infrastructure enhancement projects and the renewable energy sector. Toray’s subsidiary completes purchase of shares in Korea’s Woongjin Chemical Japan’s Toray Industries Inc recently announced that Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc (TAK) – its consolidated subsidiary based in Korea – has completed the process of purchasing a 56% stake in Woongjin Chemical Co Ltd, based in Seoul, Korea (also see Membrane Technology January 2014, page 6). TAK’s acquisition of the stake is expected to have negligible impact on Toray’s consolidated business performance in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2014. Aquaporin is granted patent in India for its technology Danish Cleantech firm Aquaporin A/s recently announced that it has been granted Indian Patent No. 258338 – entitled ‘Biomimetic water membrane comprising aquaporins used in the production of salinity power’ – by the Indian Patent Office. The company says this patent, granted in January, is its first in India and opens up a world of opportunities in a huge market in need of environmentally feasible solutions to energy scarcity problems primarily caused by industrialisation and an increasing population. The Aquaporin Inside membrane technology covered by the granted patent offers a solution to the existing challenges of providing efficient membranes for the salinity power process. Aquaporin says it is also pursuing the use of its membranes to solve the problem of water scarcity in India. According to the firm, the country represents the ideal market for its technology. Degrémont wins contract to build drinking-water plant in Belgium The Compagnie Intercommunale Liégeoise des Eaux has awarded Degrémont Sas, a subsidiary of French utility company Suez Environnement Sa, the public contract to build a drinking-water production plant for the municipality of Ans, in Liége, Belgium, in partnership with Balteau and Galère, part of the BAM Group. The contract is worth E26 million in total, including E6 million for Degrémont.
6
Membrane Technology
expertise in water-related technologies with its extensive polymer research know-how, focusing on specific customer requirements whilst considering environmental aspects. It complements the firm’s existing flocculant range to better serve future equipment trends in the dewatering market. Because of its effective bridging capabilities, Zetag Ultra shows advanced dewatering performance. It offers strong floc integrity to withstand high shear forces, which makes it especially effective in centrifuge applications and dissolved air flotation. ‘Today, industrial and municipal water treatment plants are challenged to achieve maximum performance under increasing cost pressure,’ said Marcus Fuest, Head, Global Industry Marketing, Water Solutions, BASF. ‘Zetag Ultra has proven its excellent performance in a variety of extensive plant trials worldwide. Our customers report that cake solids of dewatered sludge increased on average by 15%. Other customer cases show a significant dose saving of up to 20%. Furthermore the centrate has an improved capture rate.’ Contact: BASF Se, Carl-Bosch-Strasse 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany. Tel: +49 621 60 0, www.watersolutions.basf. com, www.basf.com
Partnership aims to improve preclinical liver toxicity testing methods
E
MD Millipore, the life sciences division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, recently received a grant of $400 000 from the US-based Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to fund a partnership with Promethera Biosciences Sa/Nv, a Belgian pharmaceuticals company that focuses on developing and commercialising cell therapy products to treat liver diseases in an innovative way. This is one of four grants given to life sciences companies in Massachusetts to fund international collaboration as part of MLSC’s International Collaborative Industrial Program (ICIP). Through this collaboration EMD Millipore’s micro-fluidic technology will enable researchers at Promethera Biosciences to mimic the liver microenvironment long-term, enabling increased consistency and scale-up potential for live cell models. Using liver stem cells provided by Promethera Biosciences and EMD Millipore’s Cellasic microfluidic cell culture platform, both organisations
are seeking to improve preclinical liver toxicity testing methods. According to the companies, current methods for liver toxicity testing are limited by technical challenges that the Cellasic platform can address. ‘The opportunity to work closely with Promethera Biosciences over the course of the project speaks to the nature of our organisation: enabling our partners to conduct potentially life-saving research,’ commented Robert Yates, President and CEO, EMD Millipore. ‘We are looking forward to building our relationship and more importantly to the outcomes this partnership has the potential to deliver. A sincere thanks to the MLSC for the opportunity to see what this collaboration can achieve and, more importantly, the continued support of the Massachusetts Life Sciences industry.’ Eric Halioua, CEO, Promethera Biosciences, said: ‘We are pleased to initiate this collaboration with EMD Millipore and combine expertise to develop a ready-to-use liver-based device. We sincerely thank the Walloon region and the MLSC for the funding of this innovative project.’ Dr Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO, MLSC, added: ‘The partnership between EMD Millipore and Promethera Biosciences will help bring new health technologies to the market along with economic benefits for Massachusetts.’ ‘We are also excited to announce the second year of the ICIP, including two new partner regions in Israel and Medicon Valley. No one country or region can address on its own the urgent health challenges that still face our global community, and we are pleased to be partnering with some of the world’s leading regions in life sciences innovation.’ This effort will span many functions and sites within the EMD Millipore network, including experts – both business and technical – in cell analysis instrumentation, research content, cell culture systems, and a handful of external collaborations with pharmaceuticals sites, including sister-company EMD Serono. This partnership was conceived by and submitted to the MLSC by Tim Galitski, Head of Science and Technology, EMD Millipore and Phillip Lee, the company’s new business initiative lead for micro-fluidic technologies. Contacts: EMD Millipore, 290 Concord Road, Billerica, MA 01821, USA. Tel: +1 978 715 4321, www.millipore.com Merck KgaA, Frankfurter Str. 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany. Tel: +49 6151 720, www.merck.de Promethera Biosciences Sa/Nv, Watson & Crick Hill, Rue Granbonpré 11, B-1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium. Tel: +32 10 39 43 00, www.promethera.com
May 2014