TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

NO. 7 JANUARY 2008

Welcome to Isis E-News in 2008.

Oxford University Consulting (OUC) is one of the three business divisions within Isis.  OUC provides clients from the worlds of business and government with access to the expertise of the University’s academic staff.  OUC helps clients find the right expert within the University, and helps University academics match their expertise with clients’ needs.  Click through to the right to learn more about OUC.

The Technology Transfer Group manages an ever-growing portfolio of technologies arising out of Oxford University’s world-class research activities.  Technologies are licensed into existing businesses and newly formed spin-out companies, where Isis has helped plan and raise finance for the company.  Read about recent new technology offerings below.  Existing Spin-out companies  in the portfolio continue to perform impressively, as described in two lead stories over on the right. 

Isis Enterprise continues to develop its range of consulting offerings for clients in technology and innovation management.  Recent new contracts include working with clients to identify new markets for their existing technologies and develop their technology transfer processes.

Yours

Tom Hockaday
Managing Director

Isis on the web

Oxford University Consulting
OUC provides access to the University’s research expertise across its extensive range of disciplines.

Isis spinout Oxitec has been selected as one of 39 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers for 2008 in recognition of its technology for the control of major global insect pests that are damaging to public health and agriculture.
Isis spinout Oxford Immunotec closed a US$40m financing round in October 2007 The funding will be used to prepare for the launch of the company's tuberculosis diagnostic in the US.

Articles

Design Council
New technology has found a new ally in design, and entrepreneurs and Isis researchers are feeling the benefit. Sponsors of the September 2007 OIS dinner, Design Council, tell us why.

BioSign: Design of New Technology for Monitoring Acutely Ill Patients
The first and most important criterion to consider when designing new medical technology is whether or not it will fulfil an unmet clinical need. BioSign is a new system, designed by Professor Lionel Tarassenko and his research group in the Department of Engineering Science, which addresses the unmet needs of the acutely ill hospital patient who suddenly deteriorates.

“Behind the doors of Oxford University lies a hidden world...”
Promoting and managing the University of Oxford's Brand licensing programme.

European Patent Costs to Fall
OIS member, Boult Wade Tennant, discusses why patenting in Europe is due to become much cheaper next year as the "London Agreement" finally comes into force.

Spin-Out News We are pleased to announce our latest news on spin-out companies based on Oxford University research:

Oxford Advanced Surfaces has reversed into the AIM listed Kanyon plc, which has been renamed Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group Plc (OXA.L).

Oxford Medical Diagnostics has been acquired by AIM listed Avacta Plc (AVCT.L), an industrial sensors company.

New Oxford Technology & Research

Isis commercialises technology and research opportunities from Oxford; these are some current examples:

Consulting Support in the Latest Methodologies in High-Throughput Structural Biology Technology
The Oxford Protein Production Facility will provide high quality practical instruction to three scientists from Evotec UK Ltd, the Oxfordshire-based drug discovery company, in the field of high-throughput (HTP) ligation-free cloning, protein expression and purification.

High Capacity Antennas for Wireless Communication Devices
A novel compact and planar antenna design offering enhanced communication throughput with reduced manufacturing complexity and cost.

Portable Water Purification Device
Oxford Engineers have designed and tested a lightweight, gravity driven device for purifying water to potable standard, an ideal solution for emergency flood situations.

Automated Analysis of Text
A sophisticated linguistic tool enables accurate and efficient analysis of text by understanding the grammatical structure of sentences.

Stay on top of the latest University of Oxford innovations by registering for the Isis Technology Update email.  

Meet Isis One of the strengths of Isis project groups is that the staff have experience of both the worlds of academia and industry. Learn more at Who's Who at Isis, for example: Sarah Macnaughton, Project Manager, Isis Enterprise. Sarah completed her PhD in Microbial Ecology at the University of Newcastle in 1992. After three years in post-doctoral research at Newcastle she became the senior researcher at a US environmental analysis business.  Following this she joined the Centre for Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Tennessee before moving back to the UK in 2000 to join AEA Technology Environment and its Momenta operating division.    At Momenta Sarah worked on a number of projects including research into bioremediation, management of a UK site for contaminated land research, a review of environmental science and training in the UK and the DTI BIOWISE Programme.  Her final role at Momenta was as regional manager on the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships programme.  Sarah joined Isis Enterprise in October 2006.

Advice and Expertise in Technology Transfer from Isis Innovation


Connecting business with Oxford’s expertise


The investor network for Oxford spin-outs

Events

The following are forthcoming events:

UK Trade & Investment Intellectual Property Rights Seminar Monday 11th February 2008 at the Holiday Inn, Oxford,
This seminar explores how companies can exploit and protect their intellectual
property rights and considers the practical aspects of approaching and negotiating on
IPR with an overseas partner.

Praxis
Praxis delivers professional training and development courses for personnel in technology transfer offices in the UK.