Some companies that have benefitted from Innova's funding programme

ALLTECH and Dunbia

Animal health company Alltech, with headquarters in Kentucky and an Irish base in Meath, worked with Dungannon-based meat processor Dunbia, to develop an organic supplement which can be added to animal feed and delivered to the human consumer in red meat.

The supplement, selenium, is lacking in the Irish diet and offers a boost to the immune system and decreased risk of cancer.

"The Innova funding enabled us to put this through a commercial system and take it beyond the laboratory - that is a big thing," says Alltech manager John Thornton.

"We could do this very easily in a scientific environment, but without Innova we probably couldn't have tested it commercially," he says.

"The project has been very successful and we are now looking at its commercialisation," says Jonathan Birnie, group agricultural research manager, with Dunbia. "I can certainly recommend the Innova programme to other companies; this project probably wouldn't have happened without it."

RANDOX and BIOTRIN

Two medical diagnostic companies, Randox from Crumlin, Co Antrim, and Biotrin International of Dublin, came together to develop a new test which distinguishes between two types of acute pancreatitis, allowing earlier diagnosis. Biotrin had already developed a commercial laboratory-based test for the condition, but this was not suitable for use by clinical laboratories in hospitals.

Randox's experience in developing tests for this latter area enabled the joint development of a suitable process. The project has been successful from a technological point of view, but it has been found that a different antibody from the one used by Biotrin is required for the process.

"We were getting some false positives from the original one so we are now looking for an alternative," says Philip Lowry, divisional R&D manager for Randox.

Success will mean good news for patients presenting at hospitals with the symptoms of acute pancreatitis.

"There are two forms of acute pancreatitis," Lowry explains.

"One is potentially fatal and one is not, and each requires very different forms of treatment. This new test will allow for a fast diagnosis with results back in just 10 minutes," he says.

ROCOCO SOFTWARE and AEPONA

Another project supported in the first phase of Innova involved Dublin-based Rococo Software Ltd and Belfast company Aepona Ltd.

Rococo develops software for the mobile and wireless sectors and has been a leader in Java/Bluetooth since the genesis of the technology. Aepona, headquartered in Belfast, is at the forefront of more service-rich communications networks.

The relationship between the two companies goes back a number of years and for the Innova programme they came together to develop a new product for the call centre industry.

"It allows call centre managers to route incoming calls wherever they want, either within one call centre or to other centres in a network," explains Michael Crossey, Aepona vice-president of marketing.

"You can route the calls according to where they originated from or any other parameters. It allows for the self-management of the system simply by using a web-based interface. The product has been trialled successfully and we are now awaiting its commercial roll out by a major telecoms provider."

Seán O'Sullivan, chief technical officer with Rococo says: "The key factor is what Innova brings to the relationship. We were already working together in what I would describe as the typical commercial scenario, which can tend to be somewhat reactive.

"What funding gave us was breathing space, that cover where both companies can get together and take time out to reflect on what might be a useful product. And as a side effect of that, you uncover more opportunities."