Bijel Capsules: Co-release Micro-gel

Fluid-bicontinuous particle-stabilised gel capsule

LICENSING OPPORTUNITY

Colloid scientists at the University of Edinburgh have invented a new generic route to gel capsule formulation, involving particles suspended in fluid-bicontinuous mixture of two solvents.

These capsules have highly tunable properties (eg, shear modulus and release rate), which can be selected for different applications, such as personal care, foodstuffs, and home care. A key feature of these capsules is the internal architecture: they have inter-penetrating domains of immiscible fluids (bicontinuity).

The bijel capsules are made of two fluids and hence they are both a gel and an emulsion. The water and oil domains inside the capsules can be used to deliver chemically different active ingredients. The capsules can be designed to release or mix the active ingredients in response to a specific external stimulus.

Key Benefits

Co-release of two different active ingredients
Stabilisation of non-equilibrium mixtures without surfactants
Triggered mixing or release
Properties (eg. release rate) can be varied over many orders of magnitude

Applications

Home care, fragrance delivery
Personal care additives for shampoos, creams and gels
Food and Drink especially flavour delivery
Medical applications: drug delivery

IP Status

International patent applications have been made and published under WO2006/003403, entitled "Fluid- Bicontinuous Particle-Stabilised Gels" with a priority date of 1st July 2004. The European patent application was granted as of 17th February 2010 (EP 180 7192 B1) and national phase applications are proceeding in the USA and Japan.

The University of Edinburgh is looking for commercial partners to license this technology under a non-exclusive licence agreement within specific application areas.

If you would like further information about this opportunity please fill out the form below. Your enquiry will be passed on to the relevant University who will respond to you directly.

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