The patents for a process that could be used to extract vitamins from plants, vegetable oil from soybeans or caffeine from coffee have been donated by Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The two universities collaborate in the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes, which seeks to understand the fundamentals of using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a clean, safe solvent. 

The Eastman patents cover an extraction process using CO2 as a solvent at high temperatures and
pressures in what is known as an enhanced solubility region. Eastman first developed the process to extract beta-carotene from algae found in the Great Salt Lake but decided not to take the technology further. The process could potentially be used to extract a wide range of substances - broadly referred to as nutraceuticals - from plants, including saw palmetto extract and lycopene from tomato skins. 

Eastman recognized that this discovery would have many high-value applications in a broad range of
specialty markets in which it did not participate and that additional research and custom market development was needed for the technology to reach its full potential in value creation. 

Eastman, with 1999 sales of $4.6 billion, is the world's largest supplier of polyester plastics for packaging and is a leading supplier of coatings raw materials, specialty chemicals and plastics. 

"Once we determined this CO2 technology was not strategic to Eastman's long-term business plans, we wanted to make it available for further research and eventual commercialization," said Roger Mowen, vice president and chief information officer. 

"N.C. State and Carolina have outstanding track records for receiving technology, providing further research and development, and then looking for ways to bring the technology to the marketplace. And they're world-renowned in CO2 research," Mowen said. "This is good for society and good for the universities." 

"The Eastman gift is a great fit with our ongoing research program in CO2 processes," said Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone, William R. Kenan Jr. distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at UNC-CH and N.C. State. "We thank the company for giving us the opportunity to further develop this extraction technology." 

N.C. State and UNC-CH actively search the literature for carbon dioxide-related patents and ask companies to consider donating them. The two universities fund the CO2 Patent Assessment, Acquisitions and Transfer Initiative; PAATI employs law students, business students, and graduate students in chemistry and chemical engineering at both schools to identify promising patents and suggest possible commercial uses in the event companies are willing to donate the patents. In many cases, the donated technology will need the expertise of faculty of both schools to develop its commercial or licensing opportunities. 

"This is a win-win situation for the companies and the universities," DeSimone said. "Our campuses may benefit more if we go looking for patents, instead of waiting for companies to come to us." 

DeSimone directs the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes and co-directs the Kenan Center for the Utilization of Carbon Dioxide in Manufacturing, a university-based research center sponsored by 16 corporations worldwide that joins the work of UNC-CH and N.C. State. N.C. State's Dr. Ruben Carbonell directs the Kenan Center and is co-director of the NSF Science and Technology Center, which also involves scientists in Texas and at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. 

Technology transfer offices at both N.C. State and UNC-CH will search for parties interested in licensing the technology. Both offices are experienced in licensing university-owned intellectual property to generate revenues. 

"Gifts of intellectual property from corporations to universities are a relatively new form of corporate
philanthropy to higher education," said Mark Crowell, associate vice chancellor and director of UNC-CH's office of technology development. 

"The intellectual property gift can represent an opportunity to enhance ongoing research programs, to incorporate cutting-edge technology into the educational experience and to license the donated intellectual property to a commercial entity in return for a significant royalty stream and equity position," Crowell said. 

Dr. David Winwood, assistant vice chancellor and director of N.C. State's office of technology transfer, said, "The work under way in the Kenan Center for the Utilization of Carbon Dioxide in Manufacturing and the NSF Science and Technology Center has the potential to change many industrial processes for the better. Donations of intellectual property will provide opportunities for university researchers to significantly leverage the research dollars directed to this effort." 

Company news release
P2011