NANOncolytics
A novel approach to killing cancer cells that reduces stress on the immune system.
Name
Leads
What motivated you to commercialise your research?
A combination of a real unmet need, a suite of pre-clinical evidence and desire to translate these into real world solutions.
How have you found working with the Commercialisation team?
Once on onboard, the team have been invaluable with their knowledge of how the spin-out process works, providing specialist consultants and actively participating in business development programmes with us such as ICURe.
The stage-gate process has made it very clear the order of events and timelines. This has allowed us to prioritise the long list of activities required and keep us on track. Additionally, they have a great network, not only for progressing your business ideas but for creating a local ecosystem of past and present founders to provide peer support.
What were the challenges you faced during the Commercialisation process?
There are a number of challenges we are still navigating including: 1) separating the ongoing academic research from the company which has seen us clearly define roles, projects and the use of an IP specialist to create an IP strategy moving forward; 2) a vast new set of skills and understanding of the ecosystem which has been facilitated by a number of accelerator and venture builder schemes and a lot of time and motivation by the founders; 3) medtech is a challenging area for new start ups with compliance creating a higher barrier to entry and tricky exit routes. It requires a specialist team of advisors, good institutional support and tenacious founders to keep banging down doors.
Professionally, The Commercialisation Journey has opened a number of doors I was unaware of before. Particularly as an ECR, it is vital that I understand all career pathways in this challenging research funding landscape and maximise these opportunities. Additionally, understanding the very different ways IP must be managed for academic versus commercial purposes is imperative at an early stage as it will shape the outputs in either setting. Personally, I am learning business as well as soft skills to enhance my career progression and flexibility in the type of role I can take or create. It has definitely shaped my research and leader strategy.
Dr Faith Howard
Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Oncology and Metabolism