Knowledge transfer
Knowledge transfer is the exploitation of research findings to benefit society – financially, or regarding health, the environment or public services. The MRC aims to encourage and support this, so that its discoveries are put to use as quickly and efficiently as possible. MRC Technology, the commercial ‘arm’ of the MRC, owns the intellectual property of our institutes and units, and works to exploit scientists’ findings, generating income for the MRC that funds further research. The MRC has other ways to bring together its researchers with industry, such as holding networking events for academics and industry representative, funding joint projects and linking our units and institutes with pharmaceutical companies in formal partnerships.
- What is knowledge transfer?
- MRC and knowledge transfer
- Linking research with industry
- Our units and institutes
- MRC Technology
- From research to improved health services
What is knowledge transfer?
Knowledge transfer describes the use of research outcomes to improve the economy, environment, public health or the effectiveness of public services, policy and quality of life.
The mechanism by which outputs of the research base are converted into economic impacts is complex. This transfer of ‘knowledge’ – which can be information, methods, materials, technology or expertise – can take many years, sometimes decades. At the end of the process, medical discoveries that were made by scientists a long time in the past turn into clinical benefits and improved clinical practice and public health policy; innovative ideas become commercial products and services. It is not just a one-way transfer; the results feed back to the original activities to inspire and inform the people doing them about improved ways of tackling the problems.
MRC and knowledge transfer
The MRC and its technology transfer company, MRC Technology (MRCT), work closely with industry. We have been involved in the creation of 17 start-up companies, including two of the UK’s biggest biotechnology companies UCB-Celltech and Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT). Since 1998, cumulative income arising from the licensing of MRC intellectual property to industry has amounted to approximately £439 million. MRC inventions have had major impacts. For example, MRC research stemming from the 1970s resulted in the development of monoclonal antibodies suitable for therapeutic use. This has been the foundation of the global monoclonal antibody business, which has more than £30 billion in sales annually.
Linking research with industry
The MRC links the research that it funds with industry in a number of ways. It is holding a series of events, called ‘showcases’, which are bringing together its researchers with industry representatives. These events started last year; there will be four a year, each based on a different area of medical research. The MRC has also made a new grant available for collaborations between academia and industry.
We have also developed a new set of staff called ‘translators’, who have the skills and expertise to help scientists exploit their research findings, and we fund students in industry.
Our units and institutes
MRC units and institutes are successfully involved with industry under formal agreements and partnerships. One of the MRC’s significant partnerships is what Pfizer describes as its most important academic-industrial collaboration worldwide: a partnership between the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit in Dundee, the University of Dundee and six of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
MRC Technology
MRC Technology (MRCT) is the commercialisation catalyst for the MRC, working to translate cutting-edge scientific discoveries into commercial products.
It aims to give pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies new starting points for drug discovery, based on MRC advances in science. Any income the MRCT generates goes back to the MRC to fund further research.
It began in the late 1980s, when the MRC set up the ‘MRC Collaborative Centre’ (MRC CC) at Mill Hill in North London – a laboratory-based technology transfer operation with strong links with a number of pharmaceutical companies.
By the mid-1990s, the MRC’s commercial liaison office had evolved into the ‘Technology Transfer Group’ (TTG) and was involved in office based patenting and licensing. A second collaborative centre was also created in Edinburgh based on the Mill Hill model.
In 1999, the operations and staff of TTG and the Scottish collaborative centre were transferred into MRC CC and renamed Medical Research Council Technology (MRCT). This created a company with patenting, licensing and early stage development expertise as well as strong commercial skills.
From research to improved health services
MRC findings often contribute to improved health services; for example, the development of a newborn hearing screen, the introduction of mosquito nets for malaria in developing countries, medical imaging technologies and the use of antithrombotics to prevent heart attacks and strokes.