The global polymer industry will soon have access to commercial quantities of RAFT agents, thanks to a new licensing arrangement between Boron Molecular and Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO.
Under the terms of the agreement announced today, Boron Molecular will have the right to mass-manufacture and sell RAFT chain transfer agents globally for both R&D and commercial purposes.
CSIRO's reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) technology is a powerful method that allows users to tailor polymer properties with unprecedented control.
Up until now companies have only been able to access much smaller 'research' quantities of the agent for R&D evaluation. With access to commercial volumes of RAFT agents, it is expected that the uptake of the technology in key markets will accelerate significantly, including in the biomedical, personal care, agriculture and the industrial and chemical sectors.
Boron Molecular Director Zoran Manev said the agreement would allow the company to expand its expertise and manufacturing base.
"This agreement with CSIRO broadens the scope of our business and enables us to offer, for the first time, RAFT agents to the marketplace. We are pleased to be able to offer quality agents in larger quantities for both evaluation and commercial purposes, and at competitive prices. "We expect that this will expedite the development of new polymer-derived products for a variety of markets," he said.
Dr Cathy Foley, Chief of CSIRO's Materials Science and Engineering Division, said she was very pleased to be working with Boron Molecular in the RAFT agent manufacturing space.
"We are working closely with the team at Boron Molecular to enable commercial supply of RAFT agents suitable for our industry partners. They are agile and have a track record in delivering bespoke molecules and reagents to industry."
"RAFT has very broad applicability across a range of industry sectors because of the need for new and improved multifunctional polymers for many different applications," Dr Foley said.