Start of Joint Development by NIMS and Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical

2009.08.18

National Institute for Materials Science
Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical Co., Ltd.

The National Institute for Materials Science and Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical Co., Ltd. agreed to begin joint development of medical filters for use in blood purification and separation devices for biomedical and pharmaceutical product processes.

Abstract

  1. The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS; President: Sukekatsu Ushioda) and Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical Co., Ltd. agreed to begin joint development of medical filters for use in blood purification and separation devices for biomedical and pharmaceutical product processes. The aim of this agreement is to optimize and stabilize the separation performance of a nano membrane for water treatment developed by a research group in the NIMS Organic Nanomaterials Center (Managing Director: Izumi Ichinose) in order to apply the membrane technology to blood purification systems, etc.
  2. The nano membrane which is the focus of this agreement is a porous nanosheet which was developed at NIMS and enables high speed filtration of organic molecules. The NIMS nanosheet realizes a treatment velocity approximately 1000 times faster than that of commercial water treatment membranes having the same molecular weight cutoff (size of molecules filtered). NIMS also developed a proprietary technology for the manufacture of nano membranes for removal of polymers and proteins.
  3. Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical is a top maker of artificial dialyzers used in blood dialysis, ranking No. 1 in the market in Japan and competing for the No. 2 share in the world. As demand for dialyzers is increasing in China, India, and other countries which have achieved remarkable economic growth in recent years, rapid expansion in these markets is expected. Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical is also involved in devices for blood purification therapy (apheresis) and virus removal for biomedical and pharmaceutical products. The company possesses excellent technical capabilities on the world’s highest level in the field of membranes for medical applications, and has made important contributions to global progress in medical technology.
  4. Under this agreement, NIMS will license the patent for its water treatment membrane to Asahi Kasei Kuraray Medical and the two parties will develop outstanding devices for clinical applications based on the synergy of their combined advanced technologies, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of medical technology. The agreement also represents a large step in the dissemination of the results of commissioned research under the Core Research for Evolutionary Science and Technology (CREST) program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).