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Mo-Sci Corp. of Rolla has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory to manufacture unique porous-walled hollow-glass microspheres available for use in targeted drug delivery, hydrogen storage and other uses, including applications still being developed.
Mo-Sci started negotiations with the federally subsidized research laboratory Nov. 24 and completed the agreement six days later. Mo-Sci plans to gear up production by mid-2010.
“Our agreement states we will begin production within six months,” Mo-Sci CEO Dr. Ted Day said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been waiting for (SRNL) to make the announcement,” which came Tuesday.
“It’s great for Mo-Sci, but as much as I’m excited for us, I’m more excited about what this means for Rolla. We’re talking about bringing jobs here, manufacturing jobs. We’re not talking about adding 100 people with Ph.Ds running around here. ... This will be worth millions.”
Mo-Sci has been on the cutting edge of glass uses for years. And, because of its history of high-tech use of silica glass, the company was chosen over other bidders for this licensing agreement, Day said.
The accord also drew praise from officials at the Savannah River National Laboratory.
“We’re excited about the potential range of uses for the porous-walled hollow-glass microspheres,” said Angeline French, spokesman for the laboratory. “We’re pleased to be working with a company that is as well-qualified as Mo-Sci to produce these very special glass “microballoons,” making them available to the medical industry, and enabling us to continue exploring additional applications for them,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Hollow-glass microspheres have been used for light-weight filler material, insulation, abrasives and other uses. What makes the patent-pending microspheres unique is the network of interconnected pores in the microsphere walls, which allow the tiny “microballoons” to be filled with, hold, and release gases and other materials.
Each porous-walled hollow-glass microsphere is about 50 microns in diameter, about half the width of a human hair, Day said.
Its walls, which are about 10,000 angstroms thick (an angstrom is one-tenth of one-billionth of a meter) feature pores that range from 100 to 300 angstroms, which allow gases to enter the tiny spheres and be stored or cycled on absorbents inside.
“Imagine the uses,” Day began. “These glass spheres are the vehicles — the chassis — for transporting hydrogen, for example, or proteins for medicine. Can you imagine the extent to what these would be used if they were used in (hydrogen) batteries? We’re not talking just a few pounds, here. We’re talking (train) boxcar loads.”
Mo-Sci Corp. of Rolla has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory to manufacture unique porous-walled hollow-glass microspheres available for use in targeted drug delivery, hydrogen storage and other uses, including applications still being developed.
Mo-Sci started negotiations with the federally subsidized research laboratory Nov. 24 and completed the agreement six days later. Mo-Sci plans to gear up production by mid-2010.
“Our agreement states we will begin production within six months,” Mo-Sci CEO Dr. Ted Day said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been waiting for (SRNL) to make the announcement,” which came Tuesday.
“It’s great for Mo-Sci, but as much as I’m excited for us, I’m more excited about what this means for Rolla. We’re talking about bringing jobs here, manufacturing jobs. We’re not talking about adding 100 people with Ph.Ds running around here. ... This will be worth millions.”
Mo-Sci has been on the cutting edge of glass uses for years. And, because of its history of high-tech use of silica glass, the company was chosen over other bidders for this licensing agreement, Day said.
The accord also drew praise from officials at the Savannah River National Laboratory.
“We’re excited about the potential range of uses for the porous-walled hollow-glass microspheres,” said Angeline French, spokesman for the laboratory. “We’re pleased to be working with a company that is as well-qualified as Mo-Sci to produce these very special glass “microballoons,” making them available to the medical industry, and enabling us to continue exploring additional applications for them,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Hollow-glass microspheres have been used for light-weight filler material, insulation, abrasives and other uses. What makes the patent-pending microspheres unique is the network of interconnected pores in the microsphere walls, which allow the tiny “microballoons” to be filled with, hold, and release gases and other materials.
Each porous-walled hollow-glass microsphere is about 50 microns in diameter, about half the width of a human hair, Day said.
Its walls, which are about 10,000 angstroms thick (an angstrom is one-tenth of one-billionth of a meter) feature pores that range from 100 to 300 angstroms, which allow gases to enter the tiny spheres and be stored or cycled on absorbents inside.
“Imagine the uses,” Day began. “These glass spheres are the vehicles — the chassis — for transporting hydrogen, for example, or proteins for medicine. Can you imagine the extent to what these would be used if they were used in (hydrogen) batteries? We’re not talking just a few pounds, here. We’re talking (train) boxcar loads.”
In addition to industrial uses, Day said the medicinal possibilities are what are most exciting.
“Just think if we can move insulin into the body using these microspheres. The reason you cannot take insulin orally is because the stomach digests it. However, if these glass spheres can transport insulin past the stomach and into the system, persons may be able to take insulin orally and do away with injections. And it’s not just for insulin. Think about injecting these directly into a (torn or injured) muscle. We haven’t even begun to think of the endless possibilities,” Day said, his voice peaking in excitement.
The Savannah River National Laboratory originally developed the unique microspheres as a solid-state storage method for hydrogen; it has been successfully demonstrated to store and release the gas.
Work since then has shown potential in other uses, including battery applications and medicine. An article by authors from the Medical College of Georgia and SRNL, which has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine (Porous-wall hollow glass microspheres as novel potential nanocarriers for biomedical applications.)
Mo-Sci’s Dr. Cheol-Woon (C.W.) Kim will lead the project.
“This is Dr. Kim’s project,” Day said. “He’s going to figure out how we’re going to produce enough of this for industrial uses. Doing this will bring the costs down.”
Day said Mo-Sci first must determine the demand and when that happens, there will be expansion.
“We’ve purchased additional property, for a Building Two,” Day said. “Right now, we can accommodate the conversion here, under this roof. However, if these things go inside every car battery sold, we’re talking about real expansion.”
Day cautioned the company currently is not taking job applications for the expansion.
“When we’re ready, we’ll let people know,” he said.
Currently, the company employs just fewer than 40 staffers.
Additionally, there is a possibility of using the microspheres as an application for the delivery of anti-cancer drugs.
The Savannah River laboratory, located in Aiken, S.C., is the Department of Energy’s applied research and development national laboratory.
