Summer 2012 Investigating tandem repeat proteins Dynamic hydrogels and drug delivery Commercialising chemistry via spin-outs Enthusing kids at the chemistry open day As I see it... of the chips via an external manufacturer. Spin-out company Sphere Fluidics was set up to exploit Companies are able to do things that academic science carried out here in the department. Sarah Houlton groups don’t do in terms of making products, manufacturing and getting involved in a lot of talks to chief executive Frank Craig about how it’s going commercial activity. We now have all the expe - rience and skill sets, and a lot of innovations emulsion chemistry. To make an emulsion, have been turned into products and are being water and oil are mixed, and the water can be sold. We’ve learnt a lot in our time here, but it’s stabilised with surfactants to stop it separating. now time to go outside, where we will have There’s a lot of know-how in surfactant chem - more scope for industrial-scale activities and istry within the department, and thanks to significant growth. novel surfactants and leading-edge microflu - idics we can now carry out about a million sep - Is this the main reason why the best arate tests on a single chip, about the size of a route to commercialise a novel tech - postage stamp. nology within a university may be to The chip typically has three inlets. In one, spin out a company? there is a biological library of cells, another I think it’s a natural thing. It’s good to have very might contain assay components, and in the close relationships for the first year or two – as third could be an agonist or something to stim - we have had – or hire their people so you cap - ulate the cells. When the water in the inlets ture the know-how. Often, in the early days, the combines with an oil layer pumped laterally technology isn’t fully ready to be used in anger across the combined inlets, little aqueous in industry, and a little inside help to resolve droplets are pinched off by the oil because of some of the remaining technical challenges is the differences in intermolecular polarity. These invaluable. Once you start setting up outside droplets contain all the required assay compo - collaborations and making products, you’re nents, and within about two minutes a library probably ready to move on – and that’s the stage How did Sphere Fluidics come about? of about a million different cells has been made. we’re at now. It has its roots in science from Chris Abell and All this can be done inside the volume of about Chris and Wilhelm have been very good and Wilhelm Huck’s groups in the department. I a microlitre. we’ve had a lot of help from them, hiring some first became involved when I was asked by of their best people, and the department has Cambridge Enterprise – the university’s tech - So where is the company at now? been very generous in giving us some space. nology transfer group – to carry out technical We currently have three scientists working But if we want to have a dozen people – or even and commercial due diligence. I thought the within the chemistry department – former 70 in a couple of years – of course there is not technology was really interesting, and had great postdocs from Chris and Wilhelm’s groups who the space for us! It’s also a bit of an imposition commercial potential as there were many appli - have built up expertise in the technology. Since – I’ve been inviting in a lot of external people cations – in fact, one of the biggest challenges gaining that Royal Society Enterprise Fund such as venture capitalists, and that’s a disrup - was that there were perhaps too many things it finance, we’ve also signed several commercial tion to people who are wanting to concentrate could be used for! Part of my job was to filter it partnerships, one with a leading pharmaceuti - on their research. down, and we focused in on biologics discov - cal company, and another with a biotech firm. ery and single cell analysis, rather than doing We’re now discussing larger repeat projects So do you have somewhere lined up to chemistry in droplets and other more chem - with them, so they’re clearly very happy that we move to? istry-type applications. I became the company’s have innovative science results – resulting in Not yet – we’ve looked at five different spaces, chief executive officer and, with initial backing both patents and papers. It’s good for both sides and once we’ve raised the capital we’ll revisit from Cambridge Enterprise, we were later – they are getting technology and know-how our top three. We’ve scoped out space, location, awarded seed funding from the Royal Society from us, and it’s helping us to start to industri - cost and facilities – this is important as you can - Enterprise Fund. alise the science, and take it through to useful not do chemistry in all facilities. We need a applications. mixed space, with chemistry and biology labs, How did you get involved? We decided to focus on the cell-based aspects plus offices. Cambridge is the obvious place to I have an entrepreneurial background – I was a as not only is it exciting scientifically, impor - be. There’s a huge science and technology clus - founder and vice-president of Aurora tantly, there has been a lot of commercial inter - ter, it’s close to the university research, and Biosciences, a drug discovery technology com - est from companies who are looking at the there are about a dozen science parks nearby. pany, and I had worked with Cambridge involvement of single cells in causing cancers Enterprise on a previous spin-out, Smart and antibiotic-resistance, and also as a new way Are you optimistic for the future? Holograms. They approached me as someone of developing novel diagnostics. This is all Yes, I am. Of course we’re in a recession, and who had skills in working out the potential backed up by a strong portfolio of patents. people may say we shouldn’t be setting up in utility of science, and introduced me to Chris this climate, but I think entrepreneurs are gen - and Wilhelm. There has to be some chemistry What are the next steps? erally more optimistic than the average person! between the founders and the entrepreneurs, After a six-fold increase in income in our sec - But I also did a lot of diligence on the science, and I found them very smart and articulate, ond year, we are now planning to hire more the people and the market, and I was sure there with good ideas, and was sure I could work people. We’re currently in a venture capital was a lot of promise. with them. Another factor that attracted me to round, which we hope will raise £2-3 million. We’re already generating revenue and it’s work with the chemistry department was its This will enable us to spin fully out of the now growing rapidly so I think that faith has track record of founding and helping successful department into premises on one of the science been proven. We did, initially, have the chal - companies in the past, and Cambridge parks near Cambridge, and increase to about 10 lenge of working out where the science fitted Enterprise are also excellent. They know how to employees by the end of the year. However, best, but the commercial potential is now com - give support, handle IP licences, and make the right now we are still in the chemistry depart - ing through. Two years on, if the company had entrepreneur’s life very easy. ment, and Chris and Wilhelm help out as tech - no partnerships, no products and did not have nical advisors. Once we’re in our own space it venture capitalists knocking on the door, you’d What is the company’s technology – will feel more like an independent entity. probably be thinking you’d got it wrong. But how does it work? We’ve already launched about 25 products, that’s not the case here – we have all three. We It’s based on a mixture of microfluidics and and are starting to look at mass manufacturing are entrepreneurial optimists! 2 Chem@Cam Summer 2012 Reluctant reactions Letters A flash possibility As far as I am aware, Norrish had no particu - trying to fit new anodes, I soon discovered that lar musical interest, but with sufficient induce - beryllium-copper is ‘hot short’ and you have to Dear Editor ment by means of spiritous beverage he could work it as cold as possible. The cements used to A friend from my former Cambridge years, wax somewhat eloquent about an alleged make the system leak tight to fluorine were very having read my piece on physical chemistry at Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. unusual. One was magnetic iron oxide Fe 3O4 Cambridge published in Chem@Cam last sum - Yours sincerely, John Ogilvie direct from the blacksmith’s shop mixed with mer, wondered to me about the technician who Department of Mathematics, strong phosphoric acid; the other graphite mixed was said to have suggested to George Porter that Simon Fraser University, with Tate and Lyle’s Golden Syrup. We had a gal - he put the ‘flash’ in ‘flash photolysis’. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada lon can of the last on the plant! On further reflection, I recall that that anec - The plant rectifier gave a low voltage current of dote originated from Tom Fletcher, head techni - hundreds of amperes, and was turned on on demand cian in physical chemistry and my assistant in Fun with fluorine from the MoS laboratory, where the fluorine may experiments involving recording of infrared have been used for experiments on uranium hexa - spectra of samples at 4.2K.