UCD spinout OxyMem has been named the EuropaBio 2016 Most Innovative European Biotech SME.

The industrial biotech award, which comes with a €10,000 prize, was awarded for OxyMem’s technology aimed at reducing costs for wastewater treatment.

OxyMem’s technology uses hollow-fibre, gas-permeable membranes to deliver oxygen directly in water to micro-organisms that break down pollutants. The technology lowers costs and means less energy is required.

OxyMem chief executive Wayne Byrne said the company was "incredibly flattered" to receive the award. More than 40 companies from 13 countries applied for the EuropaBio Awards, with seven shortlisted to compete across the healthcare, industrial and agricultural biotechnology categories.

OxyMem was co-founded in 2013 by Prof Eoin Casey and Dr Eoin Syron as a spinout from UCD's school of chemical and bioprocess engineering.