Disrupting Plastic's Status Quo: the Newton Startup Teaming Up with UMass for Change

As more companies look ahead to a more sustainable future, researchers are taking a closer look at how non-recyclable materials like plastic can become greener for their work. Xheme, a startup in Newton at UMass Amherst's Mount Ida Campus, has been working for years on special additives that are getting the job done, and could eventually revolutionize how we store substances like blood. Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer Kumar Challa talks with Nichole about the science behind their additives and how UMass has helped them in their work.

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each week
we come together and talk about allthe topics important to you and the place
where you live. So good tobe back with you again this week.
I'm Nicole Davis. Well. RecentlyI was told about a startup company that's
over in Newton that has been doingwork on something that could eventually become a
huge help for the medical industry.Hospitals and other medical facilities have been storing

(00:32):
blood in the same kind of plasticIV bag for a long time, but
imagine if that shelf life could beextended for the blood simply because of the
way the bag is made. AcSem is a startup at the UMAs Amherst
Mount Ida campus. We have thefounder and the president of the company here
with us, Kumar Shala Kumar.Thank you so much for your time.
This is really interesting stuff. Startus off and tell us a bit more

(00:55):
about your company and the work youdo. Thank you. Er. Nicole
So has been developing what we callthem as EXEME multifunctional additives. So in
simple layman terms, these are bimetallicoxide materials something very similar you know,

(01:17):
texture like sand. Easiest to understand, But the surface architecture of these materials
are very unique. All the propertiesthat give them advantage in various biotech industries
are arising out of these special architectureand the chemistry. Okay, so why

(01:42):
do we need additives like this?What would you use them for? Additives
are basically transformed the properties of varioustypes of plastics and coatings that we are
familiar with. Any performance of coatingsis decided by the type of additives that

(02:02):
go in there. Like for example, if you look at a paint or
a coating on the surface of awall, the wall is protected from you
know, u wei damage, It'sprotected from bacterial contamination and so on.
So basically, without these addatives,the coatings or the plastics do not have

(02:24):
any performance by itself or by themselves. Oh okay, tell us about the
process. Obviously, don't give awaytrade secrets here, but how did you
come up with these additives? Soadditives are being there, it's not x
same discovery additives. Different types ofadditives are manufactured by chemical industry for hundreds

(02:49):
of years, right, if notmore, But there is an opportunity to
you know, keep discovering newer additiveswith newer platforms and new functionalities. So
in that process there is always opportunity, especially these days, when someone is
looking for additives that are sustainable thatmakes our environment as well as our health

(03:17):
you know better, And we wantto make sure that anything that we use
in our day to day products arenot toxic both to our health as well
as to the environment. At thesame time, we don't want to compromise
on the performance that we need inorder to make sure that we continue to

(03:38):
have current or the better lifestyle tomorrow. So as a part of that,
we had an opportunity to play aroundwith the chemistry of various types of materials
in my lab, and then whenwe were developing these materials, we were
looking for opportunities to enhance the performanceof various plastics and coatings. So in

(04:08):
that process we discovered these materials thathave the ability to eliminate what we call
it as oxidative stress. Basically,oxidative stress is you know, the cells
in their unnatural environment for various applications, like for example, when we make
drugs using these cells, they arein a reactor vessel and exposed to you

(04:33):
know, various temperatures and reaction conditions. Therefore they undergo stress. That's what
we call it as oxerative stress,and in that environment their performance is not
really optimum in producing the drugs.So we developed these arratives that help these

(04:54):
cells to reduce or eliminate the oxidativestress. Therefore they can perform better.
They can produce drugs at higher yieldand when it is applied to various other
types of applications such as blood storage. So the red blood cells when they
are stored undergo oxerated stress, andin the presence of our radiatives, are

(05:15):
our raidatives containing the storage container,the cells are more happier. Let me
put it that way. Therefore,you know cells can stay longer, healthier
and happier. You are based atthe mount out Of campus over UMass ammerst
in Newton. You've got a connectionwith the UMass Innovation Institute. Sounds like

(05:39):
a lot of work has gone intothis over the past few weeks and months
and years. How have those connectionsbeen able to help you get this work
done? Let me say it verysimply. You wouldn't be talking to me
but for the wonderful support both theMount Ida Campus of HUMASS AMMERS and the
you know u MASS system a whole, whether it is UMAs Amhurst or you

(06:02):
know UMass Lowell, all these institutionshave really enabled us to progress faster than
what we could have imagined in everyway. Like, for example, we
have very well established collaborations with theUMass Local Plastics Engineering Department. We have

(06:27):
been utilizing the services of core facilitiesat UMA Samherst, especially the Institute for
Applied Life Sciences. These core facilitiesoffer us the right kind of tools that
we need to understand the characteristics ofthe materials that we are producing. Additionally,
the Mount Ida campus being so closeto the you know, the Boston

(06:53):
downtown, the Cambridge area, itoffers us fantastic opportunity to pull off wonderful
scientists and interns, like minded researcherswho you know, keeps inspiring us.
So in every possible way, XMcouldn't have been where it is today but

(07:13):
for all these wonderful collaborations. Yeah, startups, it's hard for startups out
there right now, So it soundslike you're getting a lot of really good
support. It's more than what Iimagined four years back when we started this
company. Wow. So then whatcomes next for the company you've got these
additives the XMAS. I mean,this is incredible research and incredible work you're
doing here. So what is happeningnow in the weeks and months ahead?

(07:35):
Yeah, right now, we arescaling up these products and tailor making them
to be used as a commercial technologies. So just to give you some ideas
right now, you know, theseaddatives that we have developed can be produced
in the quantities that are required tobe useful in the industry. We are

(07:58):
integrating them in to single use plasticfilms that go into making, for example,
the blood storage containers or what wecall as single use bioreactor films and
bioreactors that are used in the biotechindustry. And there are many other examples
where these special type of storage containerswhich we call them as active containers that

(08:24):
helps make cells more happier and healthier. Okay, cool. And if people
want to learn more about your company, about XEM and all this great work
you're doing, how can they findyou and how can they connect? Yeah?
The first thing is, yeah,go to our website please www.
Dot xminc dot com. You haveall the information that is necessary there and

(08:48):
you also have the contact information ofall the wonderful stakeholders of XAM and we
are so honored and you know,with this opportunity to collaborate with across you
know, spectrum of various academic institutionsboth within US and abroad and also the

(09:11):
industrial collaborators. So basically our startupis so unique, nicol in the sense
that unlike you know for profit organizationmany of them, we are not closed
minded. We are very open andwe have really exceeded our expectations thanks to
all our wonderful collaborators both from theacademic institutions as well as from industry.

(09:37):
Well, it's much success for youin the future. Kumar Shala, the
co founder, president and chief ScientificOfficer at XEMAN Newton, thank you so
much for your time. You're welcome, Nicole. Thank you for the opportunity
to talk and share our ex samestory. Have a safe and healthy weekend,
and please join me again next weekfor another edition of the show.
I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radioon iHeartRadio.