ICI's Synetix in catalyst licensing deal with Yale University

24 August 2001 17:21  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--UK catalyst company Synetix, part of the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) group, said Friday it has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Yale University in the US.

The agreement covers three technologies and is aimed at providing a more direct and cost effective catalytic route to fine chemical and pharmaceutical intermediates.

A Synetix spokeswoman told CNI on Friday both parties will share the profits that derive from commercialising the university's catalyst technologies. However, she did not reveal the split in profits nor give a value of the licensing agreement, which covers the lifetime of the patents.

This agreement comes just months after Synetix formed Synetix Chiral Technologies (SCT) to deliver a range of asymmetric catalytic processes for fine chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

The three technologies are:

• Pd bisphosphine catalysts for enantioselective hydroamination where SCT will develop and commercialise a new range of catalysts giving access to chiral amine.
• Sterically hindered adamantyl/pentaphenylferrocenyl phosphine ligands, which will provide a new approach to Heck and Suzuki reactions.
• Catalysts for room temperature aromatic etherification, which will provide low temperature coupling conditions for reactions of aryl halides with oxygen nucleophiles.

Synetix chief executive Bob Coxon said: "We are very honoured that Yale University has chosen Synetix to develop and commercialise their new technologies."

He added: "Many companies were interested in these patents and it is testimony to the skills and expertise of the newly formed SCT unit that we were the partners chosen for this agreement."

Jon Soderstrom, managing director of the Yale University Office of Cooperative Research based in New Haven, Connecticut, said: "Yale University is pleased to have Synetix commercialise the inventions from Professor John Hartwig’s laboratory in the Department of Chemistry."

He added: "We believe that Synetix is best positioned to rapidly and broadly move these technologies into the marketplace."

By: Russell Ong
+44 208 652 3214

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