Two Irish companies – Adama Innovations Ltd, a spin-out company based at CRANN, the Science Foundation Ireland funded nanoscience institute in Trinity College Dublin and Crospon Ltd, a medical device manufacturer based in Galway - have been selected to take up leading roles in the €3 million EU FP7 FaBiMed project.
The companies will together receive a total of almost €600k in funding from the EU FP7 funding stream, the EU's main instrument for funding research in Europe. They join four other companies and a number of research institutes from the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Portugal and Spain as part of the project.
FaBiMed is a European Commission project that aims to use nanoscience research to develop advanced manufacturing techniques for medical devices. Nanoscience has the potential to vastly improve medical devices resulting in smaller, more sophisticated medical implants, e.g. heart stents, rapid point-of-care diagnostics and efficient, painless drug delivery.
CRANN, Ireland’s leading nanoscience institute has provided support to both Adama Ltd. and to Crospon Ltd. Commenting on the involvement of both companies, Professor John Boland, Director of CRANN, said, “It is fantastic, during Nanoweek 2013, to see such recognition for Irish nanoscience research at an EU level. Nanoscience research is moving from the lab to commercialisation and it’s encouraging to see some of our leading SMEs working on projects that could have real economic impact.”
Adama Innovations Ltd. was spun out from CRANN by Principal Investigator Professor Graham Cross this year. The company uses a simple and cost-efficient process for imprinting patterns at a scale invisible to the human eye on to materials and hard surfaces. Applications for this technology could include anti-counterfeiting technology, labelling or additive manufacturing to improve functionality. As part of FaBiMed, Adama Innovations will examine how this micro-patterning could be used in moulds and coatings for the fabrication of medical devices, increasing their capability and reducing the cost of manufacture.
Crospon Ltd is a medical device manufacturer established in Galway in 2006, which is developing leading edge minimally invasive medical devices for surgery in the oesophagus and stomach. As part of FaBiMed, Crospon Ltd. will lead the demonstration team and will test the effectiveness of new devices produced in FaBiMed, using nanoscience methods.
Declan Scanlan, MD of Adama Innovations, said, “This is a real boost to our business and along with the Adama management team, I am delighted to be joining leading researchers from around the EU on this project. Our research is simple and effective, but has the potential to transform medical device manufacture, among other products.”
John O’Dea, CEO of Crospon, said, “We are delighted to be chosen to participate in this project. For over 6 years, we have been working on developing more sophisticated and innovative medical devices. Nanoscience research can open up a world of possibilities for the future of medicine, and the fact that the EU is recognising this and investing in this project, is extremely encouraging.”
FaBiMed is funded under the Factories of the Future (FoF) Programme which is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) within FP7 designed to stimulate European manufacturing industry.
Nanoweek 2013, an initiative of NanoNet Ireland, runs from 14th – 21st June 2013.
