JSR Life Sciences Acquires Exclusive Rights To SPF Technologies' Chromassette Platform

JSR Life Sciences has signed a technology licensing and joint development agreement for the Chromassette technology with SPF Technologies, LLC, a private Somerville, MA-based company providing innovative solutions for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

“As a materials company that is breaking into the Life Sciences, we are continually looking for new technologies and trying to identify future trends,” said Eric R. Johnson, President of JSR Life Sciences.  “We see great potential for the Chromassette technology and its impact on the bioprocessing industry.”

The patented Chromassette technology is the first modular chromatography platform for bioprocessing.  Chromassette devices are stackable, pre-packed purification cassettes capable of being packed with a wide range of commercially available chromatography resins, from soft agarose-based beads to rigid inorganic beads.  In addition to an internal lattice that prevents resin compression, the modular nature of the Chromassette platform provides several benefits such as eliminating the need to pack columns and allowing for linear scaling capability. 

Gastón de los Reyes, CEO of SPF Technologies, offered “While the Chromassette technology by itself provides unique benefits to bioprocessing, joining with the materials capability of JSR creates a powerful synergy.”

Under the terms of the agreement, JSR Life Sciences acquires the worldwide exclusive rights to the Chromassette technology from SPF Technologies.  The companies plan to jointly develop a portfolio of Chromassette products, from low-volume process development devices to GMP manufacturing devices.  JSR Life Sciences will assume global marketing, sales, and distribution responsibilities.  The commercial launch of the first Chromassette products is expected in 2-3 years.

About JSR Life Sciences

JSR Life Sciences is a business unit of JSR Corporation, a global company built on more than 50 years of performance material expertise.  It began research in the life sciences field more than 30 years ago.  The company is continually developing highly functional materials and products to meet the current and future needs of the growing biotechnology industry.  Using a variety of integrated, leading-edge technologies, JSR Life Sciences provides materials that contribute to the manufacturing process of biopharmaceuticals, life science research applications, in vitro diagnostics, and medical devices.  JSR Life Sciences has offices, laboratories, and manufacturing facilities in Tokyo and Tsukuba (JP), Sunnyvale (CA, USA), Leuven (BE), and Shanghai (CN).

JSR Life Sciences is part of the JSR Corporation, an international company employing over 6,000 people worldwide.  It is a leading materials supplier in a variety of technology-driven markets.  JSR Corporation's global network is headquartered in Tokyo (JP) and has factories and offices all over the world.

About SPF Technologies, LLC

SPF Technologies, LLC (“SPFT”) is a privately held technology development and licensing company focused on separation and purification for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and sample-prep applications in life science laboratories.  SPFT’s technology portfolio encompasses membrane separation and chromatographic purification and includes Chromassette technology, Ultra-thin Channel Filtration (UTF) technology, and Bioprocess Simulation (BioPsim) technology.  At the core, SPFT innovates with novel devices and processes that make a real difference to end-users by radically simplifying their use and creating new capabilities not possible with conventional devices.

SPF Technologies evolved from SPF Innovations, founded in 2006 by Gastón de los Reyes and Leon Mir.  SPF Innovations successfully developed Single-pass Tangential Flow Filtration (SPTFF), exclusively licensed to Pall Corporation for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.