As part of a busy week for UC system, the University of Colorado has inked additional licenses for technologies developed at its Boulder (CU-Boulder) campus and Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. CU-Boulder completed a license agreement with Reverse Osmosis Technologies (ROTEC) for technology that enables more efficient treatment of groundwater to make it suitable for drinking. ROTEC, an Israel-based water treatment technology company, will use the licensed technology to improve the performance of its water desalination process. ROTEC is developing a technology to increase the amount of brackish (partially saline) groundwater that can be reclaimed by reverse osmosis using a reverse flow methodology developed by Jack Gilron, DSc, senior scientist, and Eli Korin, PhD, professor of chemical engineering, at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev.
In reverse osmosis systems, precipitation of salts found in saline and hard water causes scaling — one of the main factors limiting the recovery of potable water. Technology developed by Alan Greenberg, PhD, professor and associate chair of CU-Boulder’s department of mechanical engineering and executive director of the Membrane Applied Science & Technology Center, uses a patented ultrasonic sensor to detect when scaling begins. The sensor triggers a change in the system flow patterns to prevent scaling. BGU and ROTEC have begun operations at a pilot facility and plan to operate the pilot at a desalination plant and an additional test site.
In addition, CU inked a licensing agreement with HepQuant, LLC, that allows the Colorado-based development-stage company to continue commercialization of its diagnostic technology to assess chronic liver disease. All major manifestations of chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis, ascites, fibrosis, varices, and encephalopathy, are linked to an impairment of the liver’s portal circulation. Fifteen million to 30 million people in the U.S., and at least 500 million worldwide, suffer from these diseases. The first product to be developed based on the licensed technology, HepQuant-Dual, is a noninvasive, cost-effective test that measures the liver’s portal circulation using natural compounds labeled with stable isotopes. The test enables physicians to detect liver disease, measure the severity of the disease, and predict risk for future complications.
Gregory T. Everson, MD, professor and director of hepatology at the UC Denver School of Medicine, invented the test. HepQuant originally optioned the technology from CU in 2008, when it received a $100,000 seed investment from CU’s TTO to support further commercial development. The company expects clinical trials to begin in late 2010, with commercial availability by 2013, subject to FDA approval.
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