Hygiene is paramount in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors and in the food industry. Contamination by dangerous germs must be avoided, and special attention must be paid to disinfecting surfaces. This is the core expertise of Roombiotic. The company, which had 3 employees when it was founded in July of 2012, is the second spin-off of the center of excellence RCPE (Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering). The first spin-off, PRSG (Pharmaceutical and Regulatory Services GmbH), took place half a year earlier and now successfully operates in the area of drug approval.
Roombiotic was another contribution of RCPE to the creation of Pharmaland Styria. RCPE’s achievements were made possible thanks to the profound engagement and support of its owners and the funding bodies. The origins of the new company Roombiotic date back to 2009, when RCPE launched the COMET K1 project “Innovative Concepts in the Clean Room Technology.” Here, new cleanroom disinfection strategies were developed, which were later implemented by the Roombiotic’s Director Stefan Liebminger and his team. What distinguishes the new technology from the traditional methods is, first of all, efficiency. The pre-existing solutions included germ reduction in hard-to-reach areas, which had significant limitations, particularly with regard to irregular surfaces with microstructures. Roombiotic resolves these issues and develops customized solutions for optimal hygiene in hard-to-reach areas based on volatile antimicrobials technologies that deliver excellent results.
During the initial phase, Roombiotic focuses on customers from the medical and food production fields. In addition, the company offers solutions for all other fields that have to deal with high microbial contamination. Headed by Stefan Liebminger, Ph.D. and with its partners Prof. Gabriele Berg (Head of the Institute for Environmental Biotechnology at TU Graz) and Josef Ortner (Managing Director of Ortner Reinraumtechnik), the research spin-off builds on the solid industrial and scientific bases. “During my time as a project manager at RCPE, I could benefit from its enormous innovative potential. Thanks to the energetic support of the management and the scientific and industrial partners I could found Roombiotic and realize my ideas,” says Liebminger. The spin-off company has established contacts with the AKH (General Hospital) in Vienna, the LKH (Styrian Regional Hospital) in Graz, an international producer of dough-forming machines based in Styria, and a wholesale baking company based in Vorarlberg.
Impact
Currently offered disinfection methods for cleanrooms have limitations with regard to hard-to-reach areas. Roombiotic provides an innovative solution and revolutionizes clean-room technology. The spin-off secures additional jobs in Styria and creates new expertise. The specific know-how remains in Styria and helps to further promote its international reputation as a research location.
