Bumper crop of inventions at Manchester Uni
THE University of Manchester’s academics came up with a bumper crop of inventions last year.
Latest filed accounts for UMIP, the university’s intellectual property commercialisation company, show there were 342 invention disclosures – confidential documents drawn up prior to a patent application.
This figure, for the 12 months to July, was up 20% and represented the first time the university had come up with more than 300 in a single year.
“The University of Manchester remains amongst the top performing UK universities in IP [intellectual property] commercialisation,” said chairman Krishnamurthy Rajagopal in his report.
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During the year UMIP’s investment committee agreed to support 21 projects with finance totalling £1.6m. Four grants of £60,000 each were awarded through a new proof of principle fund that is co-managed with the pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson. UMIP realised £1.3m by selling investments in spin-out companies.
Its main fund, the £32m Premier Fund which is managed by MTI Partners, has now invested in eight spin-outs and 14 proof of principle projects. “The fund managers continue to be satisfied with the overall development of the portfolio,” said Mr Rajagopal. Turnover at UMIP rose slightly to £4.6m. Pre-tax profits were negligible at £150.
In separate accounts for the UMIP Premier Fund the value of its investments at July 2010 was £2.7m, but an impairment of £978,000 left it with net assets of £1.7m – more than double 2009’s figure.
