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A bi-annual update on the activities of UMIP, the University’s agent for intellectual property management and commercialisation Issue 6, December 2011 UMIP - REPUTATION AND VALUE THROUGH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ® AN INTRODUCTION BY DR RICH FERRIE, DIRECTOR OF IP COMMERCIALISATION & HEAD OF UMIP UMIPNEWS Welcome to this issue of UMIP NEWS at what is very exciting time for UMIP... Our recent configuration as a Division of The University of Manchester I 3 Ltd (UMI 3 ) led by Clive Rowland, will deliver many operational benefits as we focus on our mission to transfer University IP to the market place efficiently at scale. Our close alignment with the Innovation Centre (UMIC) now allows us to engage earlier and more systematically with the external business and investment community facilitating collaboration, partnering, licensing and investment. We will play an active role in the development of the Entrepreneurship Forum, enabling us to respond to the needs of the market in a more agile way. Further, we can now ensure that the evolving needs of our spin-out businesses will be more effectively relayed to UMI 3 ’s incubator facilities, enabling a smoother transition to corporate life for our spin-out projects and giving them a ‘soft landing’. This issue of UMIP NEWS showcases just a handful of the success stories we have achieved over the last 6 months and highlights the quality and diversity of our activities – from successful licensing and partnering, achieving investment and exits, and the launch of our second Co-Managed Innovation Fund with corporate partners and investors. I hope you enjoy this edition and encourage you to explore working with us – whether you are a University researcher with an exciting potential project, or an external organisation looking to innovate or invest. THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER I 3 LTD’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM The University of Manchester I 3 Ltd (UMI 3 ), through its Innovation Centre Division (UMIC) and with UMIP, is seeking to reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit at The University through an Entrepreneurship Forum. The aim of the Forum is to unite the external community, whose interests lie in entrepreneurship and innovation, with the University’s academic/research community through a series of workshops, seminars and events. Forum activities will be held at UMIC’s bespoke conferencing and event facilities on Grafton Street. Activities include: > Events bringing industry professionals together with academics to explore opportunities for co-development of projects and showcasing of expertise. A recent example being the launch of the £1m Co-Managed Energy Innovation Fund with National Grid and Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution. More activities are in development with Manchester Business School. www.umip.com/energy/ > Specialist events for academics interested in developing new ventures from research focusing on Intellectual Property issues including advice on patenting and trade-marking, creating and running spin-outs, social enterprises and licensing of technologies. A recent example has been a workshop for developing potential science based Chief Technology Officers run with Deloitte, the global accountancy company. > Attracting in competitions, workshops and events linked with enterprise and innovation such as the Shell Springboard Regional heats to be held in February 2012, Santander sponsored Business in the Community initiatives for SMEs and local Business Angel and Investor programmes for companies looking to fundraise or pitch to investors. > A newly formatted series of the Manchester Masterclass events on topical subjects such as accessing cloud based computing, designing effective products, social media and marketing. These will feature both joint academic and business speaker panels addressing key issues. > Events with innovation support providers both themed and general events that help to provide support for stimulating new and growing businesses – seed camps on key subject areas, interactive sessions on stimulating start-ups, high growth business events with Winning Pitch and Manchester Solutions. > UMIC encourage a drop-in or surgery system, where support providers and associates are given space to conduct one-to-ones. UMIC have a range of private and public sector associates providing pro bono work in our Innovation Centre. > Profile raising, fact-finding and VIP tours – promoting activities to raise government, stakeholder, funders’ and foreign dignitaries’ awareness of UMIC facilities and its tenant community. Recent visits included senior South Korean University staff, Alan Lewis, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and the Business Minister, Rt Hon,Vince Cable. Please see www.umic.co.uk/events for a comprehensive rolling events calendar. Dr Rich Ferrie: Director of IP Commercialisation, Head of UMIP

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Page 1: UMIP Newsletter November 2011

A bi-annual update on the activities of UMIP, the University’s agentfor intellectual property management and commercialisation

Issue 6, December 2011

UMIP - REPUTATION AND VALUE THROUGH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY®

AN INTRODUCTION BY DR RICH FERRIE, DIRECTOROF IP COMMERCIALISATION & HEAD OF UMIP

UMIPNEWS

Welcome to this issue of UMIP NEWS at what is very exciting time for UMIP...

Our recent configuration as aDivision of The University ofManchester I3 Ltd (UMI3) led byClive Rowland, will deliver manyoperational benefits as we focuson our mission to transferUniversity IP to the market placeefficiently at scale. Our closealignment with the InnovationCentre (UMIC) now allows us toengage earlier and moresystematically with the externalbusiness and investmentcommunity facilitatingcollaboration, partnering,licensing and investment. Wewill play an active role in the

development of theEntrepreneurship Forum, enablingus to respond to the needs ofthe market in a more agile way.

Further, we can now ensure thatthe evolving needs of our spin-out businesses will be moreeffectively relayed to UMI3’sincubator facilities, enabling asmoother transition to corporatelife for our spin-out projects andgiving them a ‘soft landing’.

This issue of UMIP NEWSshowcases just a handful of thesuccess stories we have achieved

over the last 6 months andhighlights the quality anddiversity of our activities – from successful licensing andpartnering, achieving investmentand exits, and the launch of oursecond Co-Managed InnovationFund with corporate partnersand investors.

I hope you enjoy this editionand encourage you to exploreworking with us – whether youare a University researcher withan exciting potential project, oran external organisation lookingto innovate or invest.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER I3 LTD’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM

The University of Manchester I3 Ltd (UMI3),through its Innovation Centre Division(UMIC) and with UMIP, is seeking toreinforce the entrepreneurial spirit at TheUniversity through an EntrepreneurshipForum. The aim of the Forum is to unite theexternal community, whose interests lie inentrepreneurship and innovation, with theUniversity’s academic/research communitythrough a series of workshops, seminars andevents. Forum activities will be held atUMIC’s bespoke conferencing and eventfacilities on Grafton Street.

Activities include:

> Events bringing industry professionalstogether with academics to exploreopportunities for co-development ofprojects and showcasing of expertise. Arecent example being the launch of the£1m Co-Managed Energy Innovation Fundwith National Grid and Scottish andSouthern Energy Power Distribution. Moreactivities are in development withManchester Business School.www.umip.com/energy/

> Specialist events for academics interestedin developing new ventures from researchfocusing on Intellectual Property issuesincluding advice on patenting and trade-marking, creating and running spin-outs, social enterprises and licensingof technologies. A recent example hasbeen a workshop for developing potentialscience based Chief Technology Officersrun with Deloitte, the globalaccountancy company.

> Attracting in competitions, workshops andevents linked with enterprise andinnovation such as the Shell SpringboardRegional heats to be held in February2012, Santander sponsored Business in theCommunity initiatives for SMEs and localBusiness Angel and Investor programmesfor companies looking to fundraise orpitch to investors.

> A newly formatted series of theManchester Masterclass events on topicalsubjects such as accessing cloud basedcomputing, designing effective products,social media and marketing. These willfeature both joint academic and businessspeaker panels addressing key issues.

> Events with innovation support providersboth themed and general events that helpto provide support for stimulating newand growing businesses – seed camps onkey subject areas, interactive sessions onstimulating start-ups, high growthbusiness events with Winning Pitch andManchester Solutions.

> UMIC encourage a drop-in or surgerysystem, where support providers andassociates are given space to conduct one-to-ones. UMIC have a range ofprivate and public sector associatesproviding pro bono work in ourInnovation Centre.

> Profile raising, fact-finding and VIP tours – promoting activities to raisegovernment, stakeholder, funders’ andforeign dignitaries’ awareness of UMICfacilities and its tenant community. Recent visits included senior South KoreanUniversity staff, Alan Lewis, DeputyChairman of the Conservative Party andthe Business Minister, Rt Hon,Vince Cable.

Please see www.umic.co.uk/events for acomprehensive rolling events calendar.

Dr Rich Ferrie: Director of IPCommercialisation, Head of UMIP

Page 2: UMIP Newsletter November 2011

INTELLECTUALPROPERTYRESOURCE

An intranet resource for:

> Understanding IP

> IP Commercialisation

> IP in Research and Consultancy

> IP & Academic Materials

UMIP’s Commercialisation Executives are your first point of callfor any questions you may have should you have an idea orobservation and are wondering if it has potential value.

Our Commercialisation Executives are faculty specific:

MEET YOUR UMIP FRONTLINE CONTACTS

2

If you are working on research that you think has commercialpotential, we would be pleased to hear from you.

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eThere is a lot going on in the UMIP PremierFund (UPF) portfolio at the moment, both withthe spin-out companies and the Proof-of-Principle (PoP) projects. As the spin-out companies become established anddevelop their operations they need moremoney to finance product development, teambuilding, business development and in somecases working capital. Most of the companiesthat we invest in require more money than the£32M UPF can afford – building a successfultechnology-based company costs many millionsof pounds – so MTI (the fund manager) helpsthe companies to organise investmentsyndicates including other investment groups.

Nearly all of our companies are currently raisingadditional finance in one form or another and itis a busy time. The economic climate is certainlyvery difficult, and likely to get worse, but someof our companies have already secured theirrefinancings and we are hopeful that theremainder will in the next few quarters.

Life is also getting interesting for some of ourPoP projects. We have three projects ingraphene and some great progress has beenmade in other projects. One of these otherprojects has recently hired an industryheavyweight to help the team set acommercial strategy, help write a business planand help secure a seven figure investment toestablish commercial operations. Anotherproject is gaining significant interest from theUS and another is close to providing

exploratory customers with product. Theremainder continue with their researchprogrammes to establish that the idea iscapable of substantial wealth creation.

In any financial crisis, access to finance getsmuch harder as the majority of institutionsreign back their exposure to risk to preservecash. This financial crisis is also a banking crisis,and so this problem is even worse this timearound. The paradox is that financialdiscontinuities in a crisis create discontinuitiesin market supply and demand. Each marketdiscontinuity equals an opportunity to providea different product or service, and if you canfigure out what the discontinuities are, therehas never been a better time to generateentrepreneurial ideas.

UMIP PREMIER FUND UPDATE...

Mark RahnInvestment ManagerMTI Partners (Managers of the UMIP Premier Fund)

www.theupf.com

For Technology and Humanities:

Dr Pushkar Wadke, EPST: 0161 306 8832E: [email protected]

Dr Lorna Farnsworth, EPST: 0161 306 8813E: [email protected]

Dr Mugdha Joshi, EPST: 0161 306 8513E: [email protected]

Daniel Syder, HumanitiesT: 0161 306 8512E: [email protected]

For Life Sciences and Medical &Human Sciences:

Dr Arnaud Garçon, FLS/MHST: 0161 603 7757E: [email protected]

Dr Edward Maughfling, MHST: 0161 606 7213E: [email protected]

Dr Gill Shuttleworth, FLST: 0161 603 7738E: [email protected]

OUR SEED FUND RUNNING SINCE MARCH 2008

Page 3: UMIP Newsletter November 2011

NOVEL NON-STEROIDAL APPROACH TO TREATINGINFLAMMATORY SKIN CONDITIONS

X-RAY BEAM POSITIONING MONITOR TECHNOLOGY

LATEST LICENSING & SPIN-OUT NEWS

UMIP has assisted Professor IanKimber from the Faculty of LifeSciences to license hisThioredoxin protein to UScompany Brickell Biotech, Inc.(Brickell) to develop BBI-2111, a novel compound with anti-inflammatory propertiesderived from the humanprotein. The compound wasdeveloped at Syngenta by Ianand Rebecca Dearman, whojoined The University ofManchester in 2007.

As a result of the deal Brickellwill conduct pre-clinical testingof the compound. Dependentupon the outcome of thesecritical studies, Brickell, incollaboration with TheUniversity of Manchester, willdefine a formal clinicaldevelopment plan, with theultimate objective of bringing anovel, safe and effective topicaltherapy for the treatment ofinflammatory skin conditions tothe market place.

In a complementary agreement,Syngenta has assigned theintellectual property and otherrights to UMIP.

On the deal, Ian commented:“We are very pleased to haveentered into partnership withBrickell Biotech, Inc. The dealreflects the outstanding scienceprojects being undertaken atThe University of Manchesterand the opportunities fortranslation research that areavailable. This is an exciting

project and we believe that thiscompound has the potential toprovide a novel treatment forinflammatory skin diseases suchas psoriasis.”

Andrew Sklawer, Vice President,Operations at Brickell Biotech,Inc. also commented: “We arevery excited about this deal and

are looking forward toprogressing the development ofBBI-2111 as a novel therapy forinflammatory skin conditionswith high unmet clinical needs.We were keen to work with TheUniversity as we recognised thespecific scientific expertise andexceptional laboratory facilitiesthat it could offer.”

Remember to discuss possible IP protection before you publish. Contact your UMIP Commercialisation Executive first.3

UMIP has assisted Dr Roelof vanSilfhout from the School ofElectrical & ElectronicEngineering, to license his X-rayBeam Positioning Monitortechnology which providesdetailed diagnostics of theimpinging beam duringmeasurements using highlyfocused beams.

Dr van Silfhout developed theNano Beam Position Monitor

(BPM) with the aid of a grant of£405,500 from the Engineeringand Physical Sciences ResearchCouncil (EPSRC). Further fundingwas acquired under the EPSRC’s‘Collaboration Fund’ whichrequired a collaborative partner,FMB Oxford Limited. Thefunding enabled furtherresearch and development ofthe technology and the creationof an initial prototype whichmet industry need.

The BPM is the only technologyof its kind in the world. To date,patents have been granted acrossEurope and the USA for both theproduct’s design and function.

The project was unusual as theBPM technology was licensed asa complete product with therelevant technology, hardwareand software already in place.The fact that the product wasoperational at the time of theapproach made it attractive tothe licensee, FMB OxfordLimited. FMB is highly involvedin the ongoing developmentprocess of the BPM andassociated technologies.

It is anticipated that thetechnology will have uses insynchrotron radiation centresacross the globe, where itsspeed and simplicity is likely tohave a huge impact on qualityand precision of researchconducted with X-rays.

Dr van Silfhout commented:“The BPM provides the missinglink for synchrotron radiationfacilities and will enable quickerand more accurate testing totake place. We are very excitedto announce the licensing deal,which will enable us to continueour research and developmentof the BPM into the future.”

It is anticipated that, in additionto its use in the synchrotronbased X-ray measurements theBPM could be developed for thehealthcare industry, whereprecision beam positioning isnecessary in radiotherapytreatment. There is also scopefor using key components of thesystem as a smart camera.

Speaking about the licensingdeal, Managing Director at FMB,

Nigel Boulding commented:“Our collaboration with UMIPhas been very successful. Ourfirst production systems havenow been tested on asynchrotron and these havedelivered the promisedperformance. We look forwardto significant sales of this novelBPM over the next few years.”

As a result of the licensing deal,The University of Manchesterhas secured additional fundingfor a PhD student to workalongside Dr van Silfhout on thefurther development of the BPMand associated technologies.

Professor Ian Kimber

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Dr Roelof van Silfhout

Thioredoxin molecule

Page 4: UMIP Newsletter November 2011

4

UMI3 DIRECTOR NAMED BUSINESS PRODUCTSAND SERVICES ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

UMI3 director Bryan Bodek hasbeen named Ernst & YoungBusiness Products and ServicesEntrepreneur of the Year 2011.

Mr Bodek who is chief executiveof Airline Services serves on theUMI3 board as Non ExecutiveDirector (Independent Director)Deputy Chairman.

His previous roles have includedbeing a former lawyer withManchester legal firm Kuitsolicitors and he is also the exvice chairman of ManchesterCity Football Club.

Airline Services has tripled insize over the last six years andnow operates from eleven UKairports. Its most recent accountsshow turnover growth of 26%to £40.9m and profit growth of82% to £3.6m.

Mr Bodek said he was'overwhelmed' to take thenational award for BusinessProducts and Services. He said:"I'm surprised and delighted andI'm still scratching my head as tohow I'm here.

Not such a long time ago I wassitting behind my desk as acorporate lawyer in Manchester,but I had a vision and anopportunity, and I'm nowleading a business serving 226airlines around the world.

l am lucky, I have a great teamaround me, we have a goodorder book. The growth ofAirline Services has been a team effort."

Elaine O’Donnell, partner atErnst & Young in the North West and regional leader for the Entrepreneur of the Yearprogramme, said: “I’mabsolutely delighted that Bryan and the other winnershave been recognised for theirgreat innovation, integrity andclear vision.”

Guest speaker was BusinessSecretary Vince Cable, who saidthe Government was doing all itcould - against a backdrop of "avery dangerous and difficultperiod" - to support businessgrowth and entrepreneurialism.

www.umi3.co.uk

www.myconostica.co.uk

PHAGENESIS CLOSES €7 MILLION SERIES B FINANCING ROUND

University of Manchester spin-out company, PhagenesisLtd, the global leader in thetreatment of dysphagia (inabilityto swallow safely) announced onOctober 4th that it had closed a€7 million Series B fundinground designed to accelerate thecompany’s development plans.

The investment was led byInventages, one of the world’slargest life science fundsspecialised in treatmentsolutions for chronic diseases.Existing shareholders alsoparticipated in the round.

The Phagenesis device delivers aprecisely sequenced andcalibrated electrical signal to thepharynx of the dysphagicpatient. Peer-reviewed clinicaltrials have shown that thistreatment is safe and effectivein improving the patients’ safeswallowing ability.

Gunnar Weikert, Founder ofInventages, said: “Phagenesis isaddressing a critical unmet needin a very large market.Dysphagic patients areunderserved by modernmedicine and many face tube-feeding and a significant loss ofquality of life for decades.Phagenesis is ideally-placed tomeet this challenge.”

Ashok Dhanrajgir, Senior Partnerat Inventages and incomingBoard Director added: "We areoptimistic that Phagenesis willdemonstrate further clinicalevidence on efficacy and health

economic benefits to society."

Daniel Green, CEO ofPhagenesis, said: “Phagenesishas translated the research ofour academic founder ProfessorShaheen Hamdy into a medicaldevice designed to alleviate thesuffering of millions of patientsaround the world. We andInventages share a vision of ourtechnology and the way it canbe deployed to benefit thesepatients, and we welcome themon board.”

www.phagenesis.com

University of Manchester spin-out company, MyconosticaLtd, has been sold to Cambridgebased, Lab21 Limited, for anundisclosed sum. Myconosticawas The UMIP Premier Fund’s(UPF) first investment.

Myconostica develops andmarkets PCR based in vitrodiagnostic test kits for the rapiddiagnosis of life-threateningfungal infections and stems from

the pioneering work ofProfessor David Denning of theFaculty of Medicine.

The sale of Myconostica to Lab21 repositions the companywithin a larger portfolio ofspecialist diagnostics andservices under the Lab 21umbrella, and brings synergiesto both companies, with thehope that the eventual exitpoint for shareholders in Lab21,whether through trade sale orflotation, will yield superiorreturns for all.

Commenting on the deal, Dr.David Holbrook, General Partnerand Head of Life Sciences atMTI, said: “This deal is proofthat real value can be generatedthrough first class academicintellectual property when it isexpertly and actively managedby hands-on investors such asMTI, Amphion and others. We

look forward to reaping furtherbenefits to our shareholders ofthe incremental increase in thevalue of the remainder of ourinvestment as the Myconosticaproduct line is commercialisedthrough Lab 21’s channels.”

Founder and Chief MedicalOfficer of Myconostica, ProfessorDavid Denning said: “Fungalinfections are frequently under-diagnosed using currentdiagnostic methods and aremuch more common thanrealised. We have developed fastand sensitive moleculardiagnostics for life threateningfungal infections such asaspergillosis and pneumocystispneumonia that will transformpatient care for these infections.The global reach of Lab21’soperations will extend theavailability of Myconostica’sproducts to many more clinicians.”

Speaking for UMIP, whichestablished the spin-out, CliveRowland, CEO, said: “UMIPworked closely with ProfessorDenning to optimise theintellectual property platformunderpinning the company'sproducts and we are delightedthat MTI and the other investorshave crafted a business whichhas now become an exemplar of what UMIP and the UPF can achieve.”

MYCONOSTICA ACQUIRED BY LAB 21 - MTI ACHIEVESFIRST SIGNIFICANT SALE FROM THE UMIP PREMIER FUND

Page 5: UMIP Newsletter November 2011

5

A Guide to UMIP

Case Studiesof Licensing

Case Studiesof Spin-outs

IP & Confidentiality

Spin-out Companies

Licensing

IP Workbook

Academic Materialsand Publishing

Download thefollowingguides andbooklets fromwww.umip.com

Hard copies available from:[email protected]

7 Years ofPositive Impact

Profs. Hugh Devlin, Keith Horner (School ofDentistry) & Wuqiang Yang (School ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering, EPS)Real-time imaging for root canal treatment> Licensing PoP awarded July 2011

Dr. Konstantinos Theodoropoulos and Prof.Colin Webb (School of Chemical Engineeringand Analytical Science, EPS)Biochemical production of succinic acid frombiorefinery glycerol: Scale-up, sustainabilityand commercialisation> Licensing PoP awarded April 2011

Drs Cath O’Neill and Neil Gibbs (MHS)Tight Junction Modulators for Improved SkinBarrier Function> Licensing PoP awarded July 2011

Professor Jian R. Lu (School of Physics andAstronomy, EPS)Functional peptide amphiphiles with selectiveresponses to skin cells and bacteria> Licensing PoP awarded September 2011

Dr David Brough (FLS), Dr Stuart Allan(Neuroscience, FLS) and Dr Sally Freeman(School of Pharmacy, MHS)Novel small molecule inhibitors for thetreatment of inflammatory diseases> Licencing PoP awarded June 2011

Professor Roy Goodacre (School of Chemistry,EPS), Dr Mathew Upton (TranslationalMedicine, MHS)Bacterial typing using FT-IR spectroscopy> Licensing PoP awarded June 2011

UMIP PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE (PoP)INVESTMENT SCHEME

We met with Dr Brian Saunders from the Schoolof Materials and Professor Tony Freemont, fromthe School of Biomedicine, to find out moreabout how UMIP Proof-of-Principle (PoP)funding has helped them to add value to thecommercial potential of the biomaterial implanttechnology that their team has been developing.

The team has been working with microgelparticles, which are swellable nanoscopic polymerparticles, for a number of years. Previously, theyhave demonstrated that an injectable fluid ofthese particles could transform into a gel thatrestored the mechanical properties of degenerateintervertebral discs (IVDs).

The team has now succeeded in linkingtogether these particles to form elastic gelscapable of sustaining permanent changes inshape without breaking. These injectable gelshave improved mechanical properties andshould now display the necessary long-termdurability required for an implanted device.Results have been published in the journal‘Soft Matter’ and the technology has attractedglobal media coverage.

Professor Freemont comments: “Degenerationof the IVD results in chronic back pain which costs the country billions of pounds per annum and causes untold misery forsufferers. We have been working for 25 yearsto identify methods for treating degenerationof the IVD.”

Brian and Tony met with Dr Ed Maughfling,UMIP’s Commercialisation Executive for MHS,to discuss their latest developments and inconjunction with a patent agent identified astrong patent position, filing a UK patentapplication soon after.

UMIP has also provided PoP funding of £140Kwhich has enabled Brian and Tony to determine

the optimal composition of this novelbiomaterial in order that it can accuratelymimic the biomechanics of the native IVD.

Dr Saunders comments: “The funding we havereceived from UMIP has been vital to thesuccess of the project. It has enabled us toretain the MRes student (Amir Milani, a co-inventor of the technology) and take ourresearch further than would have otherwisebeen possible. The technology is now in amuch stronger position; we are close toproving certain principals and developing afirst prototype material. PoP funding has alsobeen a fantastic mechanism in attractingdownstream funding which is the next step inmaking this technology a commercial reality.

I would certainly encourage other academicsto engage with UMIP. Working with UMIP hasbeen a very positive experience. Their supportthroughout the process has been excellent andwe have formed a good working partnershiptowards our goal.”

The research has also been funded by the EPSRC.

PROOF OF PRINCIPLE FUNDING CASE STUDY:

AN INTERVIEW WITH DR BRIAN SAUNDERSAND PROFESSOR TONY FREEMONT

One of the significant added value aspects in technology transfer which attracts seed funders andlicensees is Proof-of-Principle funding.

To add value, UMIP manages, for the University, a ‘Proof-of-Principle’ account for projects with goodpotential. We encourage you to find out more and make an application. Applications are reviewedthroughout the year. To find out more, please contact your UMIP commercialisation executivelisted on the second page of this newsletter.

To illustrate the diversity of projects awarded since the last issue of our newsletter, please see below:

Microgel before and after swelling

Page 6: UMIP Newsletter November 2011

Core Technology Facility46 Grafton Street

Manchester M13 9NTT: 0161 603 [email protected]

UMIP®The University of Manchester’s agent forIntellectual Property Commercialisation

UMIP is a division of The University of Manchester I3 Limited (UMI3)www.umi3.co.uk

£1M CO-MANAGED ENERGY INNOVATION FUND

Printed on recycled paper

© The University of Manchester Intellectual Property 2011

UMIP would like toacknowledge the dedication ofresearchers involved intechnology commercialisationactivities through theintroduction of awards andprizes for commercial success.

At the Faculty of Life SciencesResearch Symposium inSeptember, UMIP sponsored the‘Most Promising New Innovation’award and co-sponsored theaward for The ‘Best NewIndustrial Collaboration.’

The ‘Most Promising NewInnovation’ award was won byDr Mark Ashe for his UMIPProof-of-Principle funded projectwhich focused on producingbutanol for use in biofuels usinggenetically modified yeast.

The ‘Best New IndustrialCollaboration’ award was won byProfessor Alison Gurney for herindustrial collaboration with OnoPharmaceutical Co. Ltd, Japan.

Professor Ian Kimber, AssociateDean for Business Development,

FLS and Allan Prits, UMIP’s Headof Corporate Communications,Media and PR, presented theprize of iPads to both winners.

UMIP AWARDS AT THE FLS RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

In September, National Grid,Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution, UMIP and The UMIP PremierFund (UPF), managed by MTI Partners, announced a £1 million Co-Managed Energy Innovation Fund.

The Fund was created to identifyand develop novel research and technologies for

commercialisation and utilisation by the distributionand transmission industry toimprove delivery of electricity to customers. The Fund willprovide funding, typically up to£100,000 per project, enablingresearchers at the University toundertake one year projects todemonstrate Proof-of-Principle.

An Energy Information Day washeld on 22nd September foracademics wishing to knowmore about the fund beforesubmitting their Expressions ofInterest (EOI). The event alsogave delegates the opportunityto meet sector experts fromNational Grid and Scottish andSouthern Energy PowerDistribution to discuss their ideasduring a networking lunch.

Delegates participated in roundtable discussions exploring anumber of key issues facingelectrical networks now and inthe future.

At the 7th October deadline forEOIs, the judging panel received36 expressions of interest fromacross 10 academic schools. TheEOIs are currently beingevaluated and successful projectsare expected to commence byFebruary 2012.

UMIP Venture Manager, Dr Frank Allison, manager ofthis initiative, commented: “I would like to thank all thedelegates who found the timeto attend the Information Day.The day was a fantastic successand a great opportunity for

networking with key staff fromboth National Grid and Scottishand Southern Energy PowerDistribution. It is clear from thediscussions that innovation islikely to come from a multi-disciplinary team and it is greatnews that we have received 36expressions of interest fromacross 10 academic schools.”

For more information about theCo-Managed Energy InnovationFund and links to videos of theinformation day presentationsplease visit:www.umip.com/energy

More information aboutManchester Energy can be found at:www.energy.manchester.ac.uk

CLICK2GOSOFTWARE – SHOWCASE YOUR SOFTWARE ONLINE

Energy Information Day networking

Professor Alison Gurney and Professor Ian Kimber

Dr Mark Ashe and Allan Prits

UMIP is currently developing anew software microsite,Click2GoSoftware, which will beavailable on the UMIP websiteearly in the New Year.

The Click2GoSoftware micrositehas been designed to showcasesoftware developed by University

of Manchester staff and studentsfrom all faculties. This secure newsite will enable you to uploadyour software to a centralisedrepository through an easy-to-use submission process. Yoursoftware can be distributed usingUniversity approved licences,with or without a licence fee,

providing you with anopportunity to generate income.

Click2GoSoftware will be visibleto companies and individualswho will be able to view anddownload software of interest tothem securely for research,evaluation and commercial uses.

If you have software you would like to disseminate or would like to know more, please email: [email protected]