Thursday, May 3, 2012

Materia Gets NIH Funding Grant

Pasadena-based Materia, the developer of olefin metathesis catalyst technology developed at the California Institute of Technology, said this week that it has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH), Phase II funding grant. Amoumt of the grant was not disclosed. The firm said that the grant will go towards the continued development of functional polymers for use in organic synthesis, and is a joint effort between the company and Professor Paul Hanson of the University of Kansas. Materia is headed by Dr. Michael Giardello. Materia has deals with Dow Corning, BASF Technology, and others, and its technology is the basis for Elevance Renewable Sciences, a venture-backed firm which is using Materia's technology for developing chemicals for personal care products, detergents, lubricants.

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