Transferring technology in the life and medical sciences

Life Sciences Group.

Linda Naylor, Head of Life Sciences Group at Isis, joined Isis four years ago after 20 years in the Life Science industry within multi-national companies (ICI, Zeneca, Monsanto) and more recently in technology transfer as Manager of Bioincubator York responsible for the commercialisation of Bioscience from the University of York.

The seven Life Sciences Group Project Managers all have strong science backgrounds and these are complemented with spells in industry in development sales and marketing roles in a range of businesses from large multinationals to small venture capital funds.

The latest member to join, Dr Dina Chen, joined Isis with a PhD in molecular biology form New York University, an MBA from Oxford and industrial experience in the US.

The work in the Life Science Group is wide ranging as Linda describes:

Licensing

We have completed a number of licensing deals over the past year including a prenatal diagnostic technology that has the potential to be applied to a broad range of indications including Rhesus D genotyping, chromosomal aneuploidies such as Downs syndrome and cystic fibrosis. An exclusive licence deal was executed with a US company for the production of dendritic cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) with possibilities in both vaccine delivery and tolerance induction for hESCs-based cell therapies.  A licence was also completed for an antibody therapy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and also for antibodies involved in the detection of fungal disease on grape vines and cut flowers.

Spin-out companies

We saw the successful launch of three new spin-out businesses over the last year: Celleron Ltd has been established in the area of cancer drug development; Medistress Ltd to exploit technology able to quantitatively measure stress from blood; and T d S Ltd., which has been established to develop technology in the area of energy metabolism involving the improvement of muscle function.

Biological Material Sales

We continue to increase the number of successful Material Sales agreements concluded with life science companies.  These opportunities arise from materials which already exist in the University’s labs and include materials such as antibodies/hybridomas, protein complexes that are valuable to the Life Science industry, without involving the sale of IP.  Deals have recently been completed involving cell lines, protein complexes and antibodies.

Questionnaires

Another area that has sparked interest lately has been the licensing of healthcare questionnaires.  This interest has arisen from companies involved in, for example, clinical trials required to collate relevant data. The appropriate questions have been put together by the University’s Department of Public Health. Companies that design and manufacture implants/devices to assess the improvement afforded by such new devices have also requested similar questionnaires. 

Isis Enterprise

Isis Enterprise offers consulting expertise and advice in technology transfer to clients from the public and private sectors, in the UK and internationally. The Life Sciences Group has been involved in a number of Isis Enterprise opportunities.  These include working with an Institution in Denmark to spin out a cancer diagnostic and therapeutic company involving a number of hospitals in Denmark, the research institution and a research institution in Holland. The project initially involved helping to evaluate the potential IP and subsequently facilitating the equity split between the institutions and advice with associated agreements. The project continues as we now work on the detailed negotiations with potential investors.

Working with Oxford’s world-class researchers on such a wide range of projects has made the last four years such a stimulating a rewarding experience.  Please get in contact if, within the University, you have technology you want to commercialise and if from outside the University, you are interested in accessing world-class life sciences research.