A local cleantech startup announced last week that it's signed a patent licensing agreement with the University of Minnesota.
NewWater was co-founded last year by two recent College of Science and Engineering graduates, Joe Mullenbach and Alex Johansson. The licensing deal allows the company to move forward with its efforts to develop and commercialize an atrazine filter for drinking water that's based on university research.
"Having exclusive access to this intellectual property allows us to openly discuss our plans with potential development partners," says Mullenbach.
We wrote about NewWater earlier this summer after it was selected as a semifinalist in both the Minnesota Cup and Cleantech Open contests.
The University of Minnesota said in
a press release that NewWater is the tenth startup spun off from its technology in the past 18 months. As part of the deal the school holds an equity stake in the company.
The technology is based on enzymes developed by University of Minnesota biochemist Lawrence Wackett and microbiologist Michael Sadowsky. The enzymes initiate a bacterial process that decomposes atrazine into harmless by-products, according to the announcement.
Atrazine is among the most widely used herbicides on the planet. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is re-evaluating atrazine in light of
recent studies that have linked low levels of the chemical in drinking water to birth defects, low birth weights, and menstrual problems.
Mullenbach says NewWater's filter will be able to help municipalities save money and meet more stringent drinking water standards than is possible with the activated carbon filters currently used.
Source: Joe Mullenbach, NewWater
Writer:
Dan Haugen