Purdue company lands $300K NSF grant
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A Purdue-affiliated company that is developing what it describes as an improved process to store drugs such as vaccines and antibiotics for long periods of time has received a grant of more than $300,000 from the National Science Foundation.
LyoWave Inc. plans to use the Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant toward efforts to scale up its microwave technology for commercial use.
The West Lafayette-based company’s technology improves upon traditional lyophilization, the process of freeze-drying perishable products, Purdue said in a news release. Freeze drying pharmaceuticals such as biologics, vaccines and antibiotics allows the drugs to be stored for extended periods of time and reconstituted quickly for use, key traits for drugs that require long-term storage and transportation.
LyoWave’s microwave heating technology can increase the speed, cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the process, the news release said.
“We are using microwaves at radar and satellite communication frequencies, which are more effective for fast heating of frozen materials than traditional microwave sources operating at 2.45 gigahertz,” Drew Strongrich, LyoWave co-founder and CEO, said. “This will translate into significant improvement in manufacturing throughput, which will result in an increased availability of lifesaving medicines and reduce pharmaceutical development and manufacturing costs.”
Strongrich is a 2021 doctoral graduate of Purdue University’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The technology licensed by LyoWave was developed by researchers at Purdue led by engineering professor Alina Alexeenko.
The company licenses the technology through the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization.
In addition to the National Science Foundation grant, LyoWave received a $50,000 matching grant from the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s Applied Research Institute.