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FORNY20-FORNY2020

CLEX: A breakthrough hydrogel technology for microfluidic applications

Alternative title: Revolusjonerende ny måte å gele hydrogeler

Awarded: NOK 0.65 mill.

Need: Hydrogels represent a hugely important class of materials that are used in everyday items such as desserts and food pastes to high-tech biomedical applications in medicine, diagnostics and biotechnology. However a significant barrier to the realization of many high tech applications is a lack of control over the way hydrogels crosslink - i.e. transition from a free flowing liquid to a solid gel. This may sound easy, but this represents a profound challenge to achieve on the microscale and in a way that is compatible with sensitive molecules and biological cells. The breakthrough: Researchers at NTNU have made a significant step forward in hydrogel technology via a new approach to control the way that hydrogels form from liquid solutions - CLEX. This invention enables precise control over the speed of gelation and does so in a mild chemical environment that is friendly to living cells and can be tailored for specific high-tech applications. A platform technology: This breakthrough may be applied to several application areas with both established and growing markets worth a total of $600 bn. The overall vision is to develop the CLEX concept into a platform technology which may be tailored for 3 key industrial application areas: Microfluidics, 3D bioprinting and Injectables (i.e. medical therapy). The purpose of this proposal is to develop the technology in Microfluidics, as the inventors have most experience in this area and it is the easiest market to enter. Cost: The project will last 5 months and cost 828k NOK, 650k NOK is requested from FORNY2020, and 178k NOK has been secured in external funding. Technical goal: To validate application of CLEX technology in the high-tech application of microfluidics. Validation will lead to point at which kits can be designed and valuable IP regarding the biological safety of CLEX will be generated. This will be valuable to generate income via licensing or attract further investment for other application areas.

Funding scheme:

FORNY20-FORNY2020