Chelmsford, MA, FRX Polymers, Inc. announced today that it has officially signed a long term lease agreement with Bayer Antwerp for 3,000 square meters of land on Bayer’s Antwerp site, allowing FRX to build its first commercial plant on the leased property. FRX expects to break ground during August of 2012 and commission the plant during the 4th quarter 2013.

FRX is the manufacturer and marketer of a new, environmentally friendly family of inherently flame retardant plastics. Currently in the growth phase of commercializing its unique family of polyphosphonate homopolymers, copolymers, and oligomers, FRX produces plastics polymers that are tough, transparent, and possess high melt flow. FRX’s products are being sold in consumer electronics, building and construction, and transportation markets as polymeric flame retardant additives, flame retardant engineering plastics, and as reactive flame retardant additives for thermosetting resins.

FRX’s portfolio includes an extensive and growing patent estate. To date, FRX has 20 granted patents and 58 patent applications. FRX was the 2008 recipient of Frost and Sullivan’s “Innovation of the Year” award for flame retardant materials and received the first-place award in the Clean Technology Business Forum. FRX was also featured in The Economic Report, which aired on CNN and Fox Business News in 2009. FRX operates two pilot plants in Chelmsford, MA and a third larger polymer pilot plant in Switzerland. The Company is currently producing at capacity and will use part of the Series B investment to finance its first commercial plant.“The selection of Bayer’s Antwerp site is a strategic one for FRX,” said Marc Lebel, President and CEO of FRX Polymers. “Not only is the site equipped with state of the art infrastructure, but two key raw materials important for FRX are also produced by Bayer on this site. Moreover, Antwerp Port is at the heart of European chemical manufacturing, which ensures access to a highly skilled workforce and to world class logistics”.
Dr. Uwe Arndt, Managing Director at Bayer Antwerpen NV, said, “We are pleased to welcome FRX to our site. At Bayer, our mission is to improve the quality of life with sustainable and innovative materials and solutions. We believe that FRX fits that mission and that its products are a strong fit for our site”.