Case Study - Academic Partnerships
RVCE Provides High Quality of Service to RVC Researchers
In a 2008 faculty satisfaction survey RVC Enterprise was rated as good or very good in all of the surveyed areas which included support provided for CASE studentships, sponsored research, material transfer agreements and patenting of inventions. The timeliness, knowledge and attitude of the RVC Enterprise team were also highly regarded.
“I found everyone in RVC Enterprise very helpful in guiding me through the patent application process for the first time, providing advice and support as well as handling all the administration. They have continued to support the project by seeking out potential business partners, setting up meetings and assisting wherever they can. They make technology transfer an enjoyable and painless experience!“
— Lecturer - Veterinary Basic Sciences - Royal Veterinary College
RVC Enterprise Helps to Obtain Critical Research Funding
The first proposal that RVC submitted to the Heptagon Proof of Concept Fund was an idea to develop a new vaccine delivery system. RVC Enterprise filed a patent application to protect the idea, and Professor Dirk Werling discussed it confidentially with two major animal health companies. Initially, both companies viewed the project as exciting, but too early-stage to support. However, when RVC Enterprise secured £45,000 from Heptagon to develop the system one of the companies was so impressed by our commitment to the project they reconsidered their decision. We signed a research and licence option agreement with the company, providing two years’ funding (£166,000) which enabled the appointment of a post-doctoral researcher to continue the work. The company also contributed £60,000 towards patent costs during this period. We are now in discussions regarding commercial licence rights to the patent.
RVC Enterprise Working with Faculty to establish a new Spin-out Company
RVC’s first spin-out company has progressed in leaps and bounds – appropriately for a business treating performance horse injuries! VetCell Bioscience was formed in 2002, with an external management team commercialising a patented RVC technology for autologous stem-cell therapy for tendon injuries. RVC took an equity stake in the company, together with royalties on sales of the treatment. Professor Roger Smith, whose original idea led to the company, continues as a non-executive director and consultant to the business. The company has been generating revenue from international sales for several years, and has licensed a second technology from RVC (the hoof support patch.) By 2008, the company had expanded to pursue human as well as equine therapies, and was renamed MedCell Bioscience. A merger with the Imperial spin-out company NovaThera has further developed the business, which now has a valuation of around £30 million.