Summary of the impact

The pioneering work of Steven Ley on polymer-supported reagents and continuous-flow reaction technology has helped change the way we achieve cleaner chemical processes. The concepts and techniques invented in Cambridge allow more sustainable processes to be developed, with concomitant reduction in purification steps, shorter reaction times and diminished solvent usage. The work has led to a spin-out company (Reaxa), seeded the creation of a number of other companies, and resulted in the development of several devices for continuous flow synthesis that are now commercially available via Mettler-Toledo (USA) and Cambridge Reactor Design (UK). This technology is having an impact in industry, with continuous flow processing increasingly being used for full-scale commercial production.

Summary of the impact

Chemtrix Ltd. was established in February 2006 as a 50-50 joint venture between the University of Hull and Lionix Ltd. In 2008 the company attracted investment from Limburg Ventures BV, Panthera, Technostartersfund, Microfix BV and Hugo Delissen (€2 million) that led to the creation of Chemtrix BV. In 2009 the Company launched Chemtrix USA and a second investment round followed with investors Particon BV. In 2012 ESK Ceramics GmbH & Co. KG, acquired a minority interest (30%) in Chemtrix BV based on a valuation of €5.3 million.

The three products developed and marketed by Chemtix, Labtrix^®, KiloFlow^® and Plantrix^®, are differentiated from competitor products as they offer `scalable flow chemistry', such that optimised reaction conditions can be easily scaled from R&D to production. In addition to the employees and investors in Chemtrix the main non-academic beneficiaries of the research have been industrial customers such as Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Edward Air Force Base, Iolitec GmbH and DSM.

Summary of the impact

University of Huddersfield research in physical organic chemistry has delivered economic, industrial and societal benefits. It has led to process improvements in chemical manufacturing, most notably in the optimisation of the synthesis of antisense oligonucleotides and in the use of liquid ammonia as a solvent. It has also led to the development of new inhibitors of bacterial β-lactamases for use as antibacterials. The research team's expertise has been reflected in the success of IPOS (Innovative Physical Organic Solutions), a unit established in 2006 to carry out research in process and other areas of chemistry for the chemical industry. IPOS expanded significantly from 2009 to 2013 and has now collaborated with more than 150 companies, many of them based in Yorkshire/Humberside where regeneration is critically dependent on the success of new, non-traditional, high-technology firms and industries. Through these collaborative projects, IPOS has contributed to the growth and prosperity of both regional and national industry.

Summary of the impact

The growth and performance of Biofocus Galapagos Argenta (BGA) and Pulmagen Therapeutics (PT) are underpinned by research from the Imperial-based TeknoMed project that started in 1997. BGA was formed in 2010 through the acquisition of Argenta Discovery (AD) by Biofocus Galapagos for €16.5 million and is one of the world's largest drug discovery service organisations with 390 plus employees and turnover of €135 million [section 5, A]. PT was formed as a separate company to own the complete AD drug pipeline. It develops new medicines to treat asthma, cystic fibrosis and allergic diseases. In 2011 BGA signed agreements with PT for an initial £6million fee and with Genentech for £21.5million.

Summary of the impact

Research at the University of Salford directed at the development of a new consumer aerosol without liquefied gas propellant; the Salford Eco-valve, demonstrates the following impact:

• Developing new, commercially viable, environmentally friendly spray and aerosol products in the healthcare, personal care, air-freshener, insecticide, cleaning, polish, cooking and painting fields, with acceptable product spraying properties but eliminating the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Greenhouse Gas propellants currently used in the vast majority of aerosols;
• Successfully submitting a range of five inter-related international patent applications, all granted in the UK in 2011/12 under the Green Channel fast-track scheme for environmental innovations;
• Introducing the technology to consumer aerosol companies and influencing their change in focus towards aerosol technology which meets the requirements of potential EU directives on the reduction of VOCs in aerosols;
• Pursuing exploitation and licensing agreements with multinational companies to use the new technology, resulting in advanced stage negotiation with a preferred partner to acquire the global exclusive manufacturing and distribution rights for commercialisation.

Summary of the impact

Through research carried out under an EPSRC Teaching Company (KTP) award, we assisted an SME, CellPath, to develop the capacity to manufacture a novel set of dyes (Ortho Stains) for use in the Papanicolaou cervical smear test and other histological procedures. The company, previously mainly known for manufacture and sales of laboratory plastics etc, rapidly become the UK market leader in cytology stains, with over 50% of the domestic market, and exports to Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the USA. As a result the company has increased turnover by 400% and the workforce has grown from 5 to 65 employees.

Summary of the impact

The cost of goods is an especially important issue in developing commercially available agrochemicals, which must be manufactured on a large scale. Richard Compton's research at the University of Oxford has led to a step change in the understanding of heterogeneous reaction mechanisms for liquid — organic solid or liquid — inorganic solid processes involved in large-scale manufacturing processes. Compton's work has had particular impact on optimising the processes used by Syngenta AG in its manufacturing of agrochemicals. Since 2008 the insights gained on inorganic-base dissolution have been of great benefit to Syngenta in its development of scalable robust manufacturing processes, particularly in relation to production of its fungicide Amistar and insecticide Actara, which are two of the world's largest selling products of this type. In 2012 Syngenta achieved total sales of over $ 14 billion, $ 4.8 billion of this from fungicide and insecticide revenues.

Summary of the impact

Research at GCU led to a novel method for backfilling pipeline tunnels providing the ability to fill tunnels three times more quickly than the traditional method resulting in a cost saving of £1.5M on a single project. This approach is now best practice at Murphy Pipelines Ltd (MPL) and features in current tenders to a value of £30M. The change in fill material lowered the carbon footprint by 5000 tonnes in a CEEQUAL award winning project, in addition, the removable fill material allows the recycling and re-use of tunnels, adding to the assets of the company and reducing costs.

Summary of the impact

Multiphase flow research at Imperial has developed bespoke software code, and provided unique data for validation of commercial codes used for oil-and-gas design. This research has enabled global oil companies (e.g. Chevron) to undertake successfully the design of deep-water production systems requiring multi-billion pound capital investments. This research has also allowed SPT Group (now owned by Schlumberger), one of the largest software (OLGA) providers to the oil industry, to maintain their position as market leaders.

Summary of the impact

ERPE research led to the following impacts in the REF2014 period:

• Extending the life of the NUGGETS field (operated by Total) by three years with an increase in cumulative production of 2% (2.8 Million Barrels of Oil Equivalent, value $150M).
• Saving $3-7M in costs associated with methanol removal from liquid hydrocarbon phase by demonstrating methanol could be removed from Natural Gas Liquids directly by molecular sieve, which played a major role in Total's decision in eliminating a de-propaniser from "methanol removal facilities", saving around £50M.
• Hydrafact: a start-up company with a turnover of £1M in 2012 and employing 8 full-time and 15 part-time staff.