The Food and Environment Research Agency

Dr Louise Byass

IP Exploitation Manager

Background

• Fera brings together the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), the UK Government Decontamination Service (GDS), the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI), Plant Varieties and Seeds Division (PVS) and Plant Health Division (PHD).

• The creation of Fera will help to strengthen Defra’s groundbreaking food, farming and environmental research programmes in support of the Department’s objectives, through its work in:

• plant and crop protection• food chain safety• environmental risk assessment• crisis response

Our Purpose

• Developing a sustainable food chain

• Developing a healthy natural environment

• Protecting the global community

Our role

• Regulation• Policy and inspectorate functions for plant health, bee

health and plant varieties and seeds

• Research• Robust scientific research, analysis and evidence for

government and commercial customers worldwide

• Response• Advice, guidance and support as part of the UK’s

capability to respond and recover in emergency situations

Our Capabilities

• Horizon scanning, policy and strategy development• Research and innovation• Expert identification, measurement and modelling• Risk assessment, mitigation and contingency

response• Better regulation, inspection, auditing and advice• Development of globally important collections and

datasets

Organisational design

Key facts

• Projected turnover 2009/10 - £72million• Staff - 850• Location

• Main labs at Sand Hutton, York, UK• Seeds office at Cambridge, UK• Wildlife Management facility at Woodchester Park,

Gloucestershire, UK• Regional inspectors at 40 locations across the UK,

including Heathrow airport, Felixstowe seaport• GDS office location near Stafford

• Website: www.defra.gov.uk/fera

Main site (Sand Hutton, York)

Fera at a glance• We have over 40,000 government and

commercial customers• We run over 600 research projects• We provide services to customers in

over 100 countries• We analyse over 50,000 plant and

food samples a year• We carry out over 150,000 plant and

bee health inspection visits a year• We work with more than 1000

collaboration partners

Commercial activity

• Projected commercial income 09/10 = £15m• R&D and services to private sector, licensing

etc.• SMEs through to global blue chip companies• Key account management – moving towards

fewer larger customers• BDMs and marketing

IP and its exploitation

• 16 patent families, similar number of TMs• Mostly in diagnostic and pest management

areas• Licensing – in and out• Products – proficiency testing schemes and

reference materials, insect traps, web-based subscription products e.g. RAPPORT and fc24

Products

Forsite Diagnostics Ltdwww.forsitediagnostics.com

• Founded January 2007• 7-figure external investment• Based on Fera site

InterAct project

• Unique collaboration between six public sector research establishments

• Cefas, Dstl, Fera, HPA, HSL, VLA• £3m from DIUS over 3 years• Objective – to identify and exploit synergies in

IP of partners• Fera lead partner• Includes Proof of Concept fund for partners

Any questions?