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In 2001, the University of Aberdeen established a joint venture with TauRx Pharmaceuticals. The aim was to investigate the structure and role of tau tangles in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia.

Professor John Storey synthesised and scaled up a drug candidate within the university chemistry department. The compound, based on the compound methylene blue, proved effective against the progress of AD in phase two clinical trials. The research also developed several other promising drug candidates, which have undergone pre-clinical and phase one clinical studies.

TauRx Pharmaceuticals have since produced significant quantities of drug medicines from the intellectual property generated within the chemistry department. These drugs are currently used in clinical trials and for named patient supply.

TauRx has published at least 20 patents as a result of the research, with many of these already granted. The subject matter includes three major categories: proprietary therapeutic agents or methods of synthesising them; diagnostic agents and enabling technologies such as proprietary assays or systems. They make up part of a portfolio of patents and patent applications, including 10 that are co-owned by professor Storey.

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The UCL Translational Research Office (TRO) provides integrated support for translational research, drug discovery and industrial partnerships, across the School of Life and Medical Sciences and wider UCL community. Scientists with experience of working in both industry and academia staff the office. They provide practical help and project management expertise to academics wishing to explore the translational pathway for their research.

The office comprises of three core groups, each offering specialised support and advice: Translational Research Group; Industrial Partnerships Group; and the Drug Discovery Group (DDG). The groups work with colleagues in UCL Enterprise and UCL Business to facilitate the interaction and progression of projects from basic hypotheses to the clinic. They also help to secure external and internal funding streams and manage the growing portfolio of translational projects. The groups lead and manage strategic, long-term and high-value collaborations with industry partners that enhance UCL’s ability to translate its biomedical research towards patient benefit. 

The DDG provides theoretical and practical expertise to support the progression of selected UCL projects. Established in 2012 and staffed initially by experienced medicinal chemists, the group is expanding and establishing biological assay facilities to support their translational activities. Using the strong industry links established within the group, they enable collaborative activities for UCL academics. These include sourcing compound libraries, facilitating links with other groups and companies, and providing advice on suitable funding sources and grant applications.

The DDG established the Innovative Therapeutics Postdoctoral Training Programme. This is an industry facing two-year programme providing practical research experience through of a series of secondments and projects in academic and industrial drug discovery laboratory environments. Members of the group teach on undergraduate and MSc courses, and contribute to the development of new training approaches.  They lead the current initiative to provide on-line CPD courses focused on innovative therapeutics.

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The Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) is a university innovation centre to support the speciality organic materials and polymer industries. It allows businesses access to knowledge within universities that they can use to innovate and grow. OMIC has an extensive track record of working with chemical using industries and has carried out over 150 projects for over 75 companies with a total project value of more than £5m.

The core of the centre is located in the School of 91AV at the University of Manchester, with dedicated staff and facilities for collaborative research. Resources available include high quality infrastructure and experienced project leaders for a range of types of project.

Projects may be directly funded, or supported by a wide variety of funding mechanisms. These include; EPSRC funding for longer-term projects addressing fundamental scientific issues; industrial CASE postgraduate studentships and research projects; Innovate UK competitions for feasibility studies and collaborative R&D projects, innovation grants and vouchers; Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and EU Horizon 2020 competitions.

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The Lambert Toolkit is a set of guidance documents for universities and companies who wish to enter into a collaborative research project. The toolkit includes model research collaboration agreements for both 1:1 and consortium agreements, a decision guide and guidance documents for both parties.

The Lambert agreements centre around three key areas that cause difficulty in negotiating collaborations. These are the ownership and rights to use the results of the project; the financial and other contributions made by the commercial sponsor; and the university’s use of the results for academic purposes.

The aim of the toolkit is to ease the process of entering into a research collaboration by facilitating negotiations, reducing the time taken to reach an agreement and providing examples of best practice. However, they do not represent an ideal position for any party. Instead, they offer a starting position to reaching a workable compromise that maximises innovation.

The toolkit was most recently updated in October 2016 with the addition of further model research collaboration agreements, and the guidance was refreshed in line with the latest legislation.

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