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Technology Development Fund

• TDP Scheme in a nutshell
• Summary and Overview
• What is a Technology Development Project (TDP) ?
• IP Management and subsequent Commercialisation Activity
• TDP Investment Programme – eligibility, process and criteria
• Making Proposals for TDP funding
• Other Sources of Funds
• Contact us for applications or more information

• Funds to make the difference in taking promising new technology forward eg:
1. Worked examples demonstrating utility and robustness.
2. Critical descriptive data to support commercial uptake.
3. Work needed outside capability of inventing institution.
• Funds to do critical patent-strengthening work,
• Small and large projects funded,
• Not for extended or exploratory research,
• Potential to build on BBSRC Institute technology or utilise Institute development resources,
• Simple application and investment process direct with PBL.

Summary and Overview

PBL's technology transfer services most commonly take the form of investment in specific items of technology through taking on patent costs and committing time and effort to managing the corresponding Intellectual Property (IP) rights, and proactively marketing and licensing to companies to take the early stage technology forward. However, under this new initiative commencing April 2004, PBL will invest in selected technology development projects to add value to and consolidate specific intellectual property emerging in plant and microbial science. The impact of these projects will be to improve significantly the probability of successful and timely transfer of new technologies and inventions into commercial use.

This new capacity for PBL to invest funds directly to enable specific pieces of technology development and IP-consolidation research has been made possible by a £1.8m award under the UK Government Department of Trade and Industry "PSRE" Fund Scheme (Public Sector Research Exploitation Fund). The PSRE programme is administered from the DTI's Office of Science and Technology.

These Technology Development Projects ("TDPs") may be conceived proactively by PBL itself and carried out by suitable laboratory-based parties, or proposed to PBL and defined together with PBL, and we welcome suggestions for candidate projects/technologies for funding. Further details follow in this section.

What is a Technology Development Project (TDP) ?

A TDP will be a piece of technical/experimental work funded by PBL. It will build on an existing breakthough, discovery or invention that may or may not yet have been patented. The TDP will define a research/technical activity with a specific plan and goals, defined and agreed with PBL for the purpose of adding value to the newly emerged or existing IP - such as by proving applied utility, demonstrating repeatability and robustness and/or establishing data for broader IP protection.

The TDP will be carried out under a contract (with PBL) which will define the project. Commercialisation of the subject IP/technology will be managed by PBL as part of its usual technology transfer operation.

A TDP may be designed to develop IP emerging from a particular laboratory by further activity funded as the TDP in the same originating laboratory, or in a different laboratory (or even a contract research organisation) depending on what particular value-adding work is to be carried out and where the most suitable skills, expertise and resources are available at an economically competitive rate.

There is no prescribed minimum or maximum size for a TDP but projects are expected to be in the £5,000 to £50,000 range and typically take a few weeks or months, but rarely more than a year. We will obtain BBSRC approval before making any TDP investment of over £250k. TDPs will NOT be for exploratory research or long-term projects. TDPs could, for example :

• Demonstrate the invention in an industrially relevant system as distinct from a model system,
• Provide a wide range of worked examples showcasing the utility and robustness of a particular invention,
• Provide essential descriptive data to support commercial uptake.

PBL's PSRE award for TDP funding is primarily intended to be applied to :

1. IP emerging from BBSRC Institutes; or,
2. IP developed elsewhere but which can be developed and/or consolidated through value adding work at BBSRC Institutes,
3. IP that otherwise may benefit research at BBSRC Institutes.

For applicants with technology from outside the BBSRC network, there is a great range of technology development capability in the BBSRC Institutes and the links below will direct you to their websites. We encourage any party with promising technology to consider this as an opportunity to have their emerging IP developed further at a BBSRC Institute, through the TDP mechanism. Please contact us to discuss these kinds of possibilities.

PBL will manage the IP that is the subject of a TDP as part of its usual technology transfer operation. Commercialisation will most likely be through licensing by PBL to suitable industrial parties, but vesting of TDP-developed IP into spin-out/start-ups may be appropriate in certain cases. TDP funds will not be applied as direct equity investments into start-up companies – unless in exceptional cases, where we will first obtain BBSRC approval.

This initiative from PBL will not be conducted with a specific call for applications with a particular deadline. PBL will assess options/candidate projects on a rolling basis, with investment decisions on new TDPs being made approximately quarterly, but with the capacity to process individual investments more rapidly in certain circumstances. PBL expects to implement at least 20 to 30 TDPs over an initial three-year period.

PBL will determine suitability for TDP investment according to the following principal criteria :

• Existing status of IP protection and the IP environment,
• Potential for building strong and broad IP position through TDP investment,
• Clear technical plan identified or easily identifiable,
• Feasibility of technical steps and availability of suitable resources at economically viable rates,
• Ultimate commercial potential – market size/opportunity,
• Increase in marketability/transferability achievable by TDP.

Each TDP will have an allocated PBL Technology Manager who will maintain close contact with the work in progress. The TDPs will also be closely monitored by PBL from an IP perspective alongside the development of patent protection strategies as projects unfold.

Making Proposals for TDP funding

PBL welcomes proposals for TDP investments at any time and these should be made initially in a brief (1-2 page) document under the following headings :

• The basis for the proposal – the existing technical position and opportunity,
• Source of original funding (if applicable); any third-party interests,
• Potential industrial utility and competing or alternative technology,
• Existing IP position – any existing patent applications etc,
• Proposed value-adding work and outputs/goals,
• Where such work could be done,
• Indicative budget (if known).

Proposals should in the first instance be sent to Rebecca McIntosh, who will be happy to try and answer any queries about preparing a proposal.

Applications will be treated in confidence by PBL. If we believe a proposal is potentially of interest for TDP funding we will discuss the application and work together to prepare a more detailed project plan.

The intention is to provide a flexible, rapid-response process. While we may begin working on more detailed TDP plans with individual applicants at any time, PBL will select among candidates received for TDPs at approximately 2 monthly intervals, so any proposals should receive a response at the latest on such a timescale.

If subsequently successful we will implement the TDP by funding the work directly at the organisation(s) contracted to deliver the project, under suitable Project contracts which will be put in place between PBL and the relevant development organisation and (if different) with the source organisation.

TDP investments are made entirely at PBL's discretion and subject to written contract with PBL.

Other Sources of Funds

There are various funding initiatives for "Knowledge Transfer" activity and the PBL TDP Scheme may have synergy with some, although we perceive it will plug a significant gap. We do not attempt to describe all these here but at the time of writing (March 2004) the following may help paint the broader picture.

• BBSRC Follow-on Funding (www.bbsrc.ac.uk)

A pilot scheme launched late 2003, closed first call January 2004. Aims to support the development and examination of a concept that has arisen under Research Council funding, to establish its commercial feasibility and technical merit. Does not support IP costs.

• ICENI Seed Fund (www.icenifund.com)

A £4m seed-capital fund established under the UK Government's University Challenge scheme, as a partnership between The University of East Anglia, The University of Essex, The John Innes Centre, The Sainsbury Laboratory, The Institute for Food Research and PBL. Aims to make seed-capital investments into spin-out companies and technology commercialisation projects originating in the partner research institutions.

• Rainbow Fund (www.cclrc.ac.uk)

A £4m seed capital fund established under the first round of the UK Government's PSRE scheme initially by certain Public sector research establishments (CCLRC, NERC, DSTL, PPARC and UKAEA), and recently extended by a further £2m from the PSRE Fund to include the BBSRC network. Funds seed-capital investments into spin-out companies and technology commercialisation projects originating in the partner Research Council-funded research institutions.

PBL March 2004