Technology Incubator Launches Biopolymer Venture

Emergence, a Berkeley, Calif.-based life sciences technology development firm, and ExThera, a technology transfer partner of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, have formed a joint venture, ExThera Medical, to develop and market polymers for medical devices based on biologically active carbohydrates that remove pathogenic microorganisms, proteins, and cells from blood. The first clinical application for the technology will be in the treatment of sepsis in intensive care units. Emergence is a spin-off of Polymer Technology Group, which will provide R&D and manufacturing to ExThera Medical.