20 November 2006 – DSM Venturing, the investment arm of the Dutch materials and chemical giant, has taken a 10% share in Micromuscle, a Swedish advanced materials company specialising in electro-active polymers (EAPs).
Medical applications are among the possible uses for this emerging class of materials. EAPs respond to the stimulus of an electric field, enabling them to act as actuators or micromuscles. According to DMS, they could be used for controlled drug release or anchoring a device.
DSM and Micromuscle are looking to “explore opportunities” for developing products in the area of drug delivery and cardiovascular systems.
“They [Micromuscle] have succeeded in carving out an interesting position in electro-active polymers for biomedical materials,” said Steve Hartig, vice president DSM Biomedical.
Formed in 2000, Micromuscle is a spin-out company from Linköping University. The company holds a number of patents on conducting polymers and focuses on vascular applications.
