Innovation Awards for Institute Spin-out Companies
10 March 2008 - The Institute regularly works with commercial partners who can provide the resources and complementary expertise required to take our research findings through development and manufacture and into the clinic for the benefit of patients worldwide.
The Institute also forms its own companies, known as spin-out companies, in order to attract the required investment to enable us to advance cancer research. Two of these companies won awards for innovation at the 2007 UK BioEntrepreneurial Company of the Year Awards. The Awards, run by the government organisation UK Trade and Investment, aim to recognise innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotechnology industry as judged by a panel of industry experts.
Domainex Ltd won the ‘Innovation in Enabling Biotechnology Award’ for its commitment to research to develop new technologies that facilitate drug discovery and development. The company, a spin-out from The Institute, Birkbeck College and University College London, provides unique scientific support to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Dr Sue Bright, Director of Enterprise
“These awards are a testament to the ground-breaking and innovative work being undertaken at Domainex and PIramed. The success of these two spin-outs working in very different areas illustrates the strength and diversity of research at The Institute,” commented Dr Sue Bright, Director of Enterprise for The Institute.
PIramed Pharma won the ‘Innovation in Drug Discovery and Development Award’ for its contribution to the development of innovative new medicines. PIramed, a spin-out from The Institute, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK, is a UK-based drug discovery company focused on the research and development of targeted therapies for cancer and immune-inflammatory diseases.
The story of Domainex Ltd
In 2002, The Institute played a key role in establishing the spin-out company Domainex Ltd together with its partners, Birkbeck College and University College London (UCL).
Professor Laurence Pearl and Dr Chris Prodromou were The Institute’s founder scientists of the company. The initial investment that enabled formation of Domainex came from the Bloomsbury BioSeed Fund.
Domainex was established to utilise novel technologies that facilitate drug discovery and development providing an innovative foundation for the company’s own drug discovery programmes, and unique scientific support to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
2006 was a year of significant advances for Domainex, with the company successfully completing its first commercial contract, demonstrating the true value of its technologies and raising additional investment. In May 2007, Domainex merged with another company, NCE Discovery at Cambridge, to form a new integrated company with divisions in biology, chemistry and drug development.
Professor Pearl explains the importance of Domainex, “In order to develop and exploit scientific discoveries made at The Institute, it is often necessary to attract investment and resources from external sources. Formation of Domainex in association with Birbeck and UCL was based on the development of a range of new technologies that can be used to progress potential drug targets in cancer and other diseases."
Professor Laurence Pearl is leader of the Pearl Group in The Institute's Section of Structural Biology
