Frontier IP Group (LON:FIPP), which specialises in commercialising university intellectual property, has today announced that Palintest, a subsidiary of FTSE 100 group Halma plc (LON: HMLA), has started commercial roll out of Siren BW, a rapid water testing kit based on technology developed by portfolio company Molendotech Ltd.
The commercial roll out will focus on the UK and Ireland initially and include the establishment of a number of demonstrator sites. Currently, it can take more than two days for local authorities and regulators to assess the quality of recreational water because samples must be sent to a laboratory for lengthy and complex analysis.
Siren BW can be used on location by moderately-skilled technicians and can produce a result in 20 minutes.
Palintest’s move follows successful technical evaluation and demonstration during the 2018 bathing water season. The technical demonstration programme has also begun at several iconic Australian locations to accelerate the global roll out of the SirenBW during the southern hemisphere summer.
Frontier IP holds a 14.1 per cent stake in Molendotech, a spin out from the University of Plymouth. It was established to commercialise the work of Simon Jackson, Professor of Environment and Human Health at the University’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
Further applications are being developed with Palintest to leverage the real-time availability of pathogen risk in water. Molendotech is also working with other commercial partners in food and beverage production. Tests under development include those for detecting pathogens on fresh produce and in the water used to irrigate it.
Palintest open innovation product manager Ian Leahy said:
“It sounds strange to be discussing bathing water quality in the middle of a British winter but the fact is that people want to enjoy safe and high quality bathing water all year round – even on Boxing Day! By combining Palintest’s core competence of simplifying water safety validation with Molendotech’s technology we can finally deliver a screening tool that matches the behaviour of recreational water users.”
Molendotech chief executive officer Professor Simon Jackson said:
“It is a great achievement for the applications of our research to be commercialized with the launch of the first bathing water testing kit by Palintest that will allow a rapid assessment of bathing water quality. Molendotech researchers are working on further developments of the assay that will have many applications in a range of settings and benefit both industry and the public ”
Frontier IP Group chief executive officer Neil Crabb said:
“We’re delighted with the rapid progress the agreement with Palintest is making. It has taken less than 18 months from when Molendotech was first incorporated to the full commercial roll out of the first product based on its novel intellectual property. We are confident the Company will continue to make strong progress.”
