Qatar Islamic Bank UK joins Unilever in finance deal for UK science Technology Company

INS is a high-tech science technology company based in the industrial city of Liverpool in England which has developed 'ContraSol', described as a 'proprietary nanodispersion formation technology'.

The investment of QIB (UK) and Unilever will help INS bring its new product successfully to market.

Akbar Ahsan, Head of Corporate Finance at QIB (UK), said of the joint venture, "We are delighted to join Unilever in supporting IOTA NanoSolutions in their development and commercialisation of ContraSol. Our involvement is driven by our investment thesis of backing highly-regarded management teams and partnering with leading names. IOTA's leading scientific team and Unilever's pivotal role in the company's development and success makes this a unique opportunity for us."

"In time we will work with IOTA to expand its research activities in Qatar through establishing a presence there and participating in the knowledge-based economy which is being developed by Qatar Foundation and the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP)," added Ahsan.

Andrew Elphick, CEO of IOTA NanoSolutions, commented, "ContraSol™ is highly innovative and offers many possibilities within the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and related industries. We look forward to working with QIB (UK) and Unilever to further drive the company's growth and accelerate development within these key strategic sectors."

ContraSol™ addresses the 'poor solubility of active ingredients that can pose formulation constraints, impair the performance of product ingredients and restrict the wide use of commercial materials'. The new product allows the transformation of poorly soluble organic active ingredients into dry solid formats (for example: powders, tablets or granules) that rapidly form nanodispersions on contact with liquids. These nanodispersions then aid the delivery and lead to performance enhancement of poorly soluble active ingredients.

IOTA NanoSolutions is actively exploiting its technology and expertise in collaboration with multinational companies in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors, where the ContraSol product is most needed.