Byotrol gets ?0.35m grant for seaweed research

(Sharecast News) - Specialist infection prevention company Byotrol has secured a "significant" £0.35m grant from Innovate UK, it announced on Monday, to further investigate the anti-viral properties of certain common forms of seaweed.

The AIM-traded firm said the total award was £0.35m over 16 months, of which £0.11m would be paid to Byotrol's academic partner, the Molecular Virology Research Group at the University of Liverpool, led by professor James Stewart.

It said the grant was specifically for research into seaweeds in sanitising products, but added that the resulting discoveries could have significance outside of Byotrol's core markets, including potentially animal feedstuffs.

The grant award would help Byotrol build further on its research and development programme into developing biocides from sustainable sources.

Its board said the programme, which the company had been exploring for a number of years, had demonstrated high potency anti-viral action from extracts from commonly-occurring seaweeds, the results of which had already supported a new patent filing by the group.

Byotrol said it was expecting to file further patents as the programme developed.

"We are delighted that Innovate UK is supporting our research into the anti-viral properties of seaweeds and we are very pleased to be working on this project with professor James Stewart's excellent team at the University of Liverpool," said chief technology officer Trevor Francis.

"It is a very exciting area of development for Byotrol."

At 0913 BST, shares in Byotrol were up 2.05% at 8.7p.