NWDA grant boosts Reaxa's Nickel EnCat development
UK chemical catalysts specialist Reaxa, a specialist in pharma process metal extraction technology based in Manchester, has secured a
UK chemical catalysts specialist Reaxa, a specialist in pharma process metal extraction technology based in Manchester, has secured a £146,000 North West Development Agency (NWDA) grant to develop its chemical catalyst Nickel EnCat (Ni EnCat).
The NWDA grant will fund an 18-month project to develop Ni EnCat and its production processes from laboratory scale up to a full-scale prototype prior to commercial launch.
Ni EnCat traps catalyst species in a porous polymer bead. The technology offers the potential to deliver major gains in API process yield, reduced contamination levels, lower metal consumption and greater cost effectiveness, the company says.
The grant project includes establishing the safety and quality characteristics of Ni EnCat and laboratory trials to formulate use for selected industrial and commercial applications. Prototype development includes chemical hazards testing and the creation of a regulatory support file for pharmaceutical sector customers.
The funding will help support three-and-a-half permanent posts at BSc and PhD level within the based company.
Ni EnCat was identified and patented in Reaxa research in 2008/09 and supported by an earlier NWDA research grant.
Whereas standard catalysts typically result in over 1,000 parts per million of metal residues in the crude product, Reaxa's EnCat processes can often meet specification - less than 10ppm - without the cost, complications and environmental burden of further purification steps.