The commercialisation of a range of Australian technologies will be rapidly accelerated, thanks to a new technology transfer agreement between CSIRO and Melbourne-based fine chemical manufacturer Boron Molecular.
Under the agreement, Boron Molecular, which is a CSIRO spin-out, will be able to access and license CSIRO technologies, while drawing on the science agency’s research and development expertise.
The manufacturer will then develop these technologies into commercial products that can be scaled, mass-produced and marketed globally, with CSIRO receiving a royalty on all sales.
According to CSIRO research scientist Dr John Tsanaktsidis, the agreement will simplify the commercialisation process and allow the two organisations to more rapidly bring home-grown products to market.
“This agreement will allow CSIRO and Boron Molecular to come together and commercialise high-end products and processes in a much more seamless way,” Dr Tsanaktsidis said.
Technologies that fall under the agreement are wide-ranging, including polymers used in the biomedical industry and specialist fine chemicals for polymer manufacture.
According to Boron Molecular Director Zoran Manev, the two organisations have complementary skills and capabilities that will benefit Australian industry.
“By applying our specialist chemical manufacturing expertise to CSIRO’s portfolio of technologies we’ll be able to deliver products to industry far more quickly, completing the value chain,” Manev said.
“We’ll be developing products that can be used for a range of applications, from electronics and specialist polymers, to key components for boronic acid building blocks used in the pharmaceutical industry.”
Dr Tsanaktsidis said the deal was an example of how research and business could work together to boost Australia’s innovation in high-end chemical manufacturing.
“By closing the gap between industry and the science and research sector, we have the potential to revitalise Australia’s chemical manufacturing industry,” he said.
“Ultimately it’s collaborations like this that will lead to the creation of new jobs, new infrastructure and increased capacity for export.”
The agreement builds on the cooperation between the two organisations, which started when Boron Molecular was spun out from CSIRO in 2001.
More recently, the organisations signed a licensing agreement which gave Boron Molecular the right to mass-manufacture and sell RAFT chain transfer agents to the global polymer industry.
[Image: Researchers in CSIRO’s chemistry laboratory in Melbourne.]