On Wednesday May 12, E Ink announced the spinout of E Ink’s Billerica Digital Microfluidics group into Nuclera Nucleics. Nuclera is a UK based biotech company developing a breakthrough tabletop device capable of synthesizing proteins and genes in a fraction of the time required for other conventional methods. Such a device will offer researchers significant improvement opportunities in health, agriculture, and other technology development of global importance. The device is a combination of Nuclera’s proprietary biopolymer synthesis technology with E Ink’s digital microfluidic devices.
Well, that’s exciting. And here’s why – any time you can leverage your core technology outside your primary market or industry – you have expanded your reach and seriously maximized your investment of resources and capitalization in the technology. And that’s a compelling case study!
Nuclera's Desktop Bioprinter
In this strategic deal, the group of 16 E Ink scientists and engineers, as well as intellectual property, were transferred to Nuclera. Additionally, E Ink has become the largest strategic shareholder in Nuclera.
Dr. Michael McCreary, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of E Ink said, "This spinout and ongoing relationship with Nuclera gives E Ink the opportunity leverage our knowledge and capabilities in electronic paper technology into the growing biotechnology sector which has increasingly critical importance to the current and future challenges in global health and the continuing relationship as a strategic supplier to and equity partner with Nuclera.”
E Ink will also continue to be a strategic partner and exclusive supplier to Nuclera for specialized module components such as TFT backplanes further leveraging E Ink’s technical leadership and core knowledge in electrophoretic displays. The newly formed US subsidiary Nuclera is Nuclera Nucleics Corp and is located within the E Ink Innovation Center in Billerica, MA.
Dr. Michael McCreary, added, “This is an exciting new partnership for E Ink in this rapidly growing biotechnology segment which is of global importance. We expect this partnership to open even more opportunities in biotechnology for E Ink in the future.”
This is a lot to digest – I understand. Here’s the net – E Ink’s technology, renown for digital paper, eReaders, eNotes, electronic shelf labels, healthcare information displays, to name a few, is at the foundation of a process that can create copies of organic molecules. This opens up a new world of possibilities in biotechnology, and by extension – world health advancements. This is not a small step.
Learn more about the acquisition here.
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