Technology Offerings

Researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt developed a new method to increase proliferation and viability of immune cells, e.g. natural killer (NK) cells, derived from patients or donors. The obtained NK cell preparations are currently further evaluated for treatment of leukemia patients.

This invention describes a new joining procedure for creating hybrid connections between metallic and non-metallic mating components, so called multi-material design.
Advantages of this innovation are amongst others the short process times (a few seconds), the preservation of the fibers in the fiber-reinforced compound (no mechanical or thermal destruction) as well as the increase in head tensile strength (vertical stress direction to the component surface through the pin head).

The technology offers a new one-pot reaction to prepare efficiently various aryl substituted p-hydroxy styrene derivatives from phenol derivatives and pyruvic acid as starting materials. The para-vinylated phenols of the enzymatic / biocatalytic reaction can be used as monomers for the production of polymers, likely novel polystyrene or polyphenol derivatives. Properties of the resulting polmyers might offer the use as flame retardant material or in electronic industry.

New treatment concept against two devastating honeybee larval diseases, i.e., American and European foulbrood (AFB, EFB), based on the natural compound lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). LPC exhibits strong antibacterial activity against the causative agents of AFB and EFB and LPC supplementation to honeybee larvae was proven to reduce the outbreak of AFB significantly. The utilization of an LPC based therapy contributes to improve environmental sustainability in honeybee health and may offer new business perspectives in veterinary medicine.

The University offers a new technology addressing at least the two markets of tumour-induced cachexia and diabetes type II. Cancer has become a constantly increasing problem and thus about 1 % of all people in highly developed countries are hit by cachexia, leading to approximately 9 million patients for Europe, Japan and the US. Furthermore, diabetes type II is one of the major lifestyle diseases in the modern world.

The University offers an unprecedented enzyme that cleaves alkenes to the corresponding aldehydes at the expense of molecular oxygen. This mild and selective oxidation method has broad applicability either for the preparation of aldehyde intermediated or for the chemical production of aromatic essences and flavourings enabling a reduction of chemical solvents and cheaper production processes. The markets for using this enzyme are the fine chemicals and the aromatic/flavourings industries.