Outputs, Outcomes and Impact of MRC Research: 2012 Report 10: Impacts on the Private Sector 10: Impacts on the Private Sector
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Outputs, outcomes and impact of MRC research: 2012 report 10: Impacts on the private sector 10: Impacts on the private sector Impacts on the private sector Summary The MRC is interested in the contribution that its research has made to the formation and growth of spin out companies. It is hoped that MRC research will lead to discoveries that can be commercially exploited and result in positive economic impacts such as employment, provision of new goods and services, and direct investment into the UK. The formation of spin out companies is one route to this. It is important that the MRC can both describe its contribution in this area and understand better the processes leading to the successful formation of spin out companies. The MRC is not suggesting that the setting up of spin out companies per se is a measure of success. We are interested in the downstream impact realised, as a result of pursuing this route to commercialisation. The MRC has had a spectacular track record in this area. Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), formed in 1989, is still noted as the only academic spin out which has resulted in the discovery of a blockbuster treatment (Humira). CAT was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2006 for £702 million, at which time CAT employed more than 300 staff. An earlier route to commercialising MRC research was the formation of Celltech by the National Enterprise Board in 1980, which floated on the stock exchange in 1993 and was bought by the Belgian Pharmaceutical company UCB in 2004 for £1.53 billion. At that time, Celltech employed around 1,900 people, 450 of which worked in research and development. In 2006 it was estimated that there were almost 1,250 employees in MRC spin out companies (not including Celltech Group, by then part of UCB Pharma)1. However, with a number of mergers and acquisitions underway, it became difficult to continue to track the contribution that MRC-funded discoveries were making to employment within these larger organisations. MRC-funded research played a significant role in the establishment of some of the earliest biotechnology companies. For example, Biogen was formed in 1978 in Geneva by Kenneth Murray (MRC Mammailian Genome Unit, Edinburgh), Walter Gilbert (Harvard), Philip Sharp (MIT), and Charles Weissmann (Zurich). Both Gilbert and Sharp were subsequently awarded separate Nobel prizes for their contributions to genetics. Biogen is based in the US and a merger between Biogen and IDEC in 2003 formed Biogen Idec Inc. In 2010, Biogen Idec Inc. employed 4,800 staff and generated revenue of $5bn. Kenneth Murray’s work, jointly with that of Heinz Schaller (Heidelberg), provided the basis of the Hepatitis B vaccine developed by Biogen, launched in 1989, and is now marketed by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck as Engerix-B™/Recombivax™. These vaccines have achieved $1bn in annual sales and Biogen has offices across the world including in the UK. Professor Sir Kenneth Murray helped establish the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh which has invested in the training of early career researchers and research infrastructure in Scotland. 108 Outputs, outcomes and impact of MRC research: 2012 report 10: Impacts on the private sector MRC Technology manages and tracks commercial activity from MRC units and institutes, including spin out companies. Now via Researchfish, the MRC also collects information on links to companies that arise via its grant funding to universities, providing a comprehensive picture of these outcomes across the MRC portfolio. The 2012 Researchfish data-gathering exercise has added to our dataset on spin out companies, and the MRC now has evidence of MRC-supported research leading to the creation or growth of 104 companies, 56 of which have been formed since 2006. It is estimated that these companies represent at least 500 new highly skilled jobs in the UK (full list later in this chapter). Data on employment in privately held companies is difficult to obtain and track, so this figure is likely to be an underestimate. While we refer to spin out companies, in 2012 we widened the remit of this section to include feedback on significant interactions with existing private organisations (whether for profit or not-for-profit) where the strategy and/or turnover had developed directly as an output from MRC research. This information is not intended to duplicate details reported under the collaboration section which focuses on bilateral and multi-lateral exchanges of expertise/materials etc, but to capture consultancy, and technology/knowledge transfer arrangements where the transfer is primarily to the private sector. A detailed list of all spin out companies can be found at the Annex to this chapter. Status of companies with a link to MRC research in 2012 There is no accepted categorisation for spin out companies, but we have divided the set of companies into those that are selling a product (classified as ‘product on market’) and those without a product in the market (‘developing products’). Although we acknowledge that many ‘product on market’ companies will also have other active programmes to develop new products, successfully bringing a product or service to market indicates the company is generating new income. The status of companies linked to MRC research is as follows: » 48 companies (46 per cent) had products in development (43 in the UK) and 32 (31 per cent) had products on market (28 in UK). » Two companies (two per cent) were in stages prior to initiating a development programme (either pre- incorporation, just incorporated or seeking funding). » Four companies had ceased trading (four per cent), and nine (nine per cent) had merged or been acquired. Figure 1 shows the status of MRC spin out companies in 2012. The distribution of MRC spin out companies by date of formation is shown in figure 2. Outputs, outcomes and impact of MRC research: 2012 report 109 10: Impacts on the private sector Figure 1: Status of spin out companies in 2012 No longer trading Pre-incorporated 4% 2% Acquired/Merged 9% Seeking partners/ funding 8% Product in development 46% Product on market 31% Figure 2: Date of formation of MRC spin out companies 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 110 Outputs, outcomes and impact of MRC research: 2012 report 10: Impacts on the private sector There are nine companies that have merged with, or been acquired by, another company, representing ‘exits’. The dates of these are in table 1. Table 1: Date of exit for companies with a link to MRC research MRC linked company Now owned by/part of Date of exit Deal Value2 Cambridge Genetics Ltd Galapagos group 2000 £28m Therexsys Vectura Group plc 2000 £20m Domantis Ltd GlaxoSmithKline 2001 £230m Prolifix Ltd Topo Target A/S 2002 merger Ribotargets Vernalis 2003 £25m Oxxon Therapeutics Ltd Oxford BioMedica 2007 £16m Thiakis Ltd Pfizer 2008 £100m NovaThera Ltd MedCell Biosciences Ltd 2008 merger Aptuscan Ltd Avacta Ltd 2012 £1.5m In the Researchfish data, the details of only four companies (Ardana Biosciences, Metris Therapeutics, Sophos Therapuetics and Virogen) that have ceased trading are included. This is a low rate of failure, as studies have shown that typically 25 per cent of high-technology firms will fail in the first four years, and between 60 and 70 per cent will fail within eight to ten years3. A recent UK survey of university spin out companies4 which gathered details of 820 spin outs from 150 institutions found that 73 per cent of these were more than five years old and still active, and 61 per cent were more than ten years old. This survey also notes that fewer than 10 per cent of companies have achieved a successful exit in the last 10 years, although the returns can be significant (for example, the sale of Thiakis by Imperial College). Employment in companies with a link to MRC research In 2010 we aimed to collect additional data on the employees in companies with a link to MRC research. It is challenging to obtain accurate data on employment within these companies, and there will be a large degree of uncertainty in this information. Researchers were asked to select the current number of employees from a drop down of ranges (1-4, 5-9, 10-19, 20-49 etc). The lowest number in the range, for UK-based companies, is entered into this table, except where researchers provided a comment on the actual current number of employees in the company (these entries are marked *), or where we have cross referenced employment data in other sources (these are referenced). Outputs, outcomes and impact of MRC research: 2012 report 111 10: Impacts on the private sector Company Estimated Staff Abcodia 5 Activiomics Ltd 1 Aquila Biomedical 35 Aurum Biosciences Ltd 56 Bicycle Therapeutics 1 Bioscience Ventures ltd 1 Cambridge Epigenetix 1 Cambridge Neuroimaging 0 Celentyx Ltd N/A CellCentric Ltd 10 Celleron Therapeutics 1 Clarinnis Biosciences Ltd 2* Cytoprom 1 DefiniGEN 1 Deliverics 1 D-Gen 1 Dioptica Scientific Ltd 1 Dundee Cell Products 5* Edinburgh Molecular Imaging Ltd 0 EvoCell 5 FibromEd 0 Fios Genomics Ltd 2* Gamma Technologies Ltd 0 GlycoBioChem 47 Heptares Therapeutics 50 i2eye Diagnostics Ltd N/A Iclectus Ltd 0 Imanova Ltd 588 Innovative Vector Control Consortium 20 Intellihep 1 IR Pharma 1 Kesios Therapeutics Ltd 0 Medannex Ltd 1 MesoLens Ltd 0 nanoTherics Ltd 5 NeurocentRx 1 North East Proteome Analysis Facility (NEPAF) 1 Nottingham Prognostics Ltd 1 Novocellus N/A Nuada Medical Group 20 Ovatus Ltd 1 Oxford Contrast Molecular Diagnostics 0 Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) 609 Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 13010 P1 Vital 10 112 Outputs, outcomes and impact of MRC research: 2012 report 10: Impacts on the private sector Pentraxin Therapeutics 0 Perspectum Diagnostics 1 Phagenesis Limited 1 Pharmatics Ltd 1 Platelet Solutions Limited 1 Pro-Cure Therapeutics Limited 10* Promethean Particles 1 Protein Logic N/A Renovo 011 ReOx 1 Riotech Pharmaceuticals Ltd 1 Science Capital 0 Senectus Therapeutics 1 Senexis Ltd 1 Serascience Ltd N/A Sesmos Ltd 5 Sophos Therapuetics 0 SubZepto Associates Consulting 0 Summit plc.