Frontier IP's Tarsis enters collaboration agreement with large crop-protection firm

Frontier IP announced on Monday that its portfolio company Tarsis Technology - a spin-out from the University of Cambridge - has entered into a collaboration agreement with an unnamed “leading” manufacturer of crop-protection products.

The AIM-traded company said the collaboration would research the use of Tarsis' patent-pending technology to deliver chemical pesticides and fungicides in a more precise and controlled way.

Tarsis was incorporated to develop and commercialise technology created by Dr David Fairen-Jimenez, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and university lecturer, and his research team at the department of chemical engineering and biotechnology at the University of Cambridge.

The technology was based on particles called metal-organic frameworks, and reportedly ahd potential for a wide range of industrial applications.

“We're delighted a leading player in global agrochemicals is happy to demonstrate such a strong commitment to our novel technology,” said Tarsis founder and director Dr David Fairen-Jimenez.

Frontier IP said the crop-protection company would fund the entire research programme in return for exclusive rights to Tarsis' intellectual property for a defined set of agrochemicals.

Tarsis would be paid a royalty fee for any commercially viable products that result.

Separately, Frontier IP said it had agreed to lend up to £0.15m to Tarsis to meet working capital requirements in return for equity options.

“We aim to bring industry and university spin-outs together at a very early stage in the commercialisation process,” commented Frontier IP chief executive Neil Crabb.

“In that way, we ensure new technologies meet real-world demands and needs. This agreement is yet another sign our approach is beginning to pay off.”