ONE of the most successful high-tech spin-offs from QinetiQ is launching a spin-off of its own.
The new firm, pSiNutria Ltd, is expected to adapt for the food industry the silicon technology successfully developed by pSiMedica.
Malvern Hills Science Park manager Nigel Shaw this week handed over the key for pSiNutria's new unit.
pSiMedica was formed to exploit BioSilicon, invented at QinetiQ's predecessor, DERA.
It aims to use BioSilicon, a form of silicon that can safely be introduced into the human body, as a revolutionary way of delivering cancer treatment.
The BioSilicon can carry anti-cancer drugs directly into tumours, thus reducing the side-effects of the medication.
Now pSiNutria is taking BioSilicon in a new direction - food. Professor Leigh Canham, inventor of BioSilicon, said there is more and more interest in foods such as bio-yogurts and fortified breakfast cereals.
"BioSilicon can encapsulate delicate nutrients and then release them in the gut," he said.
The new company, which is initially seeking three recruits, is also looking at applying BioSilicon to the food packaging industry.
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