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Technology Transfer from the University of Oxford

New Oxford spin-out offers breath tests to diagnose disease

June 2004

The latest spin-out company from Oxford University, Oxford Medical Diagnostics Ltd, hopes to develop a way of diagnosing disease simply by testing someone's breath.

Oxford Medical Diagnostics, the 39th company to spin out from Oxford since 1997, is developing laser-based techniques for the analysis of gases. The company's initial focus is the development of a platform for detecting minute quantities of markers in exhaled breath.

The "breath test" method, based on research by Professor Gus Hancock's group in the Chemistry Department, is very sensitive, is non-invasive for the patient, and gives a result in seconds. Oxford Medical Diagnostics will develop the technology into a cost-effective desktop device for doctors to use at the point of care.

Professor Hancock, the founder of the company, is an expert at investigating gases using lasers and has published over 150 papers in the field during 28 years of research.

Human and animal breath contains hundreds of trace volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, some of which are characteristic markers for disease. Analysis of breath can help doctors to diagnose diseases, and breath tests are already used by clinicians, most commonly to diagnose stomach ulcers by monitoring the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the bacterium Helicobacter Pylori. Oxford Medical Diagnostics uses Cavity Enhanced Laser Spectroscopy to study the gases present in breath by detecting overtones of the fundamental frequencies of the trace compounds.

Oxford Medical Diagnostics has appointed Roy Johnson as Executive Chairman. Mr Johnson was previously Executive Vice President of Diametrics Medical Inc, a medical devices and diagnostics company. Previous to that he was President of Pfizer's Biomedical Sensor Division, where he was responsible for the Division's worldwide sales.

Oxford Medical Diagnostics is the latest spin-out to be launched in co-operation with IP2IPO, the AIM quoted company which specialises in commercialising university intellectual property. Under a groundbreaking deal made in November 2000, in return for a £20m donation towards state-of-the-art chemistry laboratories, IP2IPO is entitled to a share of the University's equity entitlement in spin out companies from the Chemistry Department until 2015.

Dr Tim Cook, Managing Director of Isis Innovation Ltd, the technology transfer company for the University of Oxford, said: "We look forward to the rapid development of the company and its success in the marketplace."

For further information contact:

Oxford University Press Office
01865 280532
press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes

  • IP2IPO Group plc, an intellectual property company that specialises in commercialising university technology, has acquired a 43.6% stake in Oxford Medical Diagnostics Limited. IP2IPO's stake in Oxford Medical Diagnostics is made up of a 16.1% interest received as a result of its long-term agreement with the University of Oxford and a 27.5% interest acquired as a result of a direct investment - IP2IPO's first such investment in an Oxford spin out. IP2IPO has worked closely with Isis Innovation Limited, the University's technology transfer office, in the creation of the company.

  • So far seven new companies have been created as a result of the University's partnership with IP2IPO, described by the Financial Times as "a blueprint for Universities everywhere": Inhibox; Pharminox; Zyentia; Glycoform; REOX; Vastox; and now Oxford Medical Diagnostics.

  • Oxford's Department of Chemistry is the largest in the western world. The undergraduate course has been judged to be excellent following a Teaching Quality Audit (TQA) by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and the research was awarded 5* in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The department has already contributed over £40 million in cash to the University as a result of its spin-out activities.

  • Isis Innovation is the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford, commercialising the research generated by University researchers and owned by the University. Isis Innovation was founded in 1988, underwent an expansion period in 1997, and is now one of the most successful university technology transfer companies in the UK: the Lambert report stated that "Oxford University had transferred more IP to the market than perhaps any other university in this country." (4.48) and "Oxford University's Isis Innovation is one of the country's most prolific technology transfer offices when it comes to agreeing licensing deals" (4.48).