SCRA announces subsequent S.C.-Israel R&D award

SUMMERVILLE, SC – SCRA is pleased to announce a six month funding extension to Greenville-based Alexium, Inc., a first round recipient of the initial projects funded through the South Carolina-Israel collaborative research and development program. The bi-national collaboration initiative seeks to facilitate and promote bilateral industrial R&D projects between entities from South Carolina and Israel. The program is managed by SCRA on behalf of the state, and the initial project was funded in September of 2014.

Last fall SCRA and its Israeli counterpart, MATIMOP (Israeli Industry Center for R&D) jointly funded a one-year project to explore flame retardant chemicals and potential applications for the textile industry. The partners are Alexium, Inc. and Israel Chemicals, Ltd (ICL). Both the actual project, as well as the collaboration, have succeeded to the point where both partners have identified additional value through extending the current collaboration.

SCRA will fund Alexium to continue efforts that support the production, testing and marketing required for full commercialization of Alexium/ICL chemical products in key nylon-based technical textile markets. ICL plans to self-fund its portion of the project extension. The potential market for Alexium’s and ICL’s flame retardant products in the military and specialty fabric divisions is in excess of 15,000 metric tons of chemical product, or approximately $150 million in potential product revenues.

“Alexium is excited about being a part of this program and appreciates the ongoing support SCRA and MATIMOP have provided for this collaborative effort,” Bob Brookins, Vice-President of Research & Development, Alexium, Inc. stated. “We expect great things out of this collaboration with Israel Chemicals. They are a world leader in the flame retardants industry, and I am excited to see what new products come out of this venture.”

“We are delighted to announce the continuation of this successful joint R&D project,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “This collaboration furthers innovative research and collaboration, helping advance South Carolina’s high-tech economy. We congratulate Alexium and ICL on the positive results they have achieved to date and look forward to positive commercial outcomes from their ongoing partnership.”

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SCRA is a self-sustaining non-profit Applied R&D company that grows the technology-based economy in South Carolina by commercializing intellectual property and supporting and making investments in early-stage companies. Multiple economic impact studies show our cumulative output into South Carolina’s economy to be over $18.1 billion since 1983, creating approximately 15,000 technology-related jobs with annual wages averaging between $55,000 and $79,000.