Edition 54 of Isis News - Isis Innovation

News 

Reviewing the latest innovations, 

collaborations and technology transfer 

Edition 54 AUTUMN 2008 

open Innovation

Open Innovation 

Tom Hockaday 

The Oxford Innovation Society 

Meeting in April explored 

the policy and practice of 

innovation management 

and technology transfer. The 

lectures from speakers Richard 

Lambert, Tim Cook and Phil 

Riman are described in the 

following pages. 

We are grateful to White & 

Tom Hockaday, Managing Black Corporate & Technology 

Director, Isis Innovation Ltd. 

Lawyers for sponsoring the 

excellent dinner at New College for the 140 guests that 

followed the talks. The guests included representatives from 

industry, business, the professions and university researchers, 

all committed to transferring innovative technologies from 

the research base. 

Over the summer Isis has been heavily involved in concluding 

the important TB vaccine deal outlined on the next page. 

This unique public-private partnership provides a great 

opportunity to address the TB health crisis. 

This edition also features articles by OIS Members PA 

Consulting and James Cowper, technologies ready for 

commercialisation with industry partners, and news on the 

spin-out portfolio, and Isis Enterprise. 

Isis Enterprise grows from strength to strength, delivering 

seminars and running the Low Carbon Incubator as 

described here, and also developing its wide range of open 

innovation consulting activities. 

As always, please let me have your comments, and please 

register to receive E-News and Technology Updates at 

www.isis-innovation.com/news/enews. 

Yours 

Tom Hockaday, Managing Director 

Contents 

News and events 3 

Innovation and Public Policy 4 

Richard Lambert 

Using your Heads – 6 

getting it right with Heads of Terms 

White & Black – OIS seminar and dinner Sponsor 

Commercialising University Research – 8 

Threats and Opportunities 

Oxford Innovation Society Meeting April 2008 

Helping innovators make bigger waves 9 

Oxford Innovation Society Member: PA Consulting 

A better way to synthesise 10 

flavours and fragrances 

Isis Project Number 3159 

New way to fight inflammation 11 

discovered at Oxford 


Liquid crystal display devices with 12 

stabilised transient states 


Chilli Pepper Sensor 13 


MicroRNA: a powerful tool for cancer prognosis 14 


Greater efficiency from silicon solar cells 15 


Going dotty… nanodots made easy 16 


Strategies for selective protein modification 17 

Isis project numbers 1147 and 3620 

Cancer Research UK award adenovirus 18 

process development contract to the CBF 

Oxford University Consulting 

Finance Act 2008 19 

James Cowper 

Oxford Nanopore Technologies 20 

Spin-out company 

Portfolio news 21 

By James Mallinson 

An introduction to Technology Transfer 22 

Isis Enterprise Seminar 

Carbon Trust 23 

Isis Enterprise Incubator Services 

Oxford Innovation Society Meetings 24 

2

NEWS and events 

The latest developments in Oxford and the world of technology transfer 

Hopes for TB vaccine boosted 

The world’s leading candidate for a tuberculosis vaccine, 

developed at Oxford University, is to move into the next 

stage of development. 

Tuberculosis is a global problem, infecting millions worldwide. 

TB, which is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis 

bacterium, is the world’s second leading cause of death from 

infectious disease in adults, after HIV/AIDS, according to the 

World Health Organization. 

Over one third of the world’s population is infected with 

the disease, and an estimated 1.7 million people die 

of tuberculosis every year. One of ten people infected 

will develop the active form of the disease during 

their lifetime. Drug-resistant strains including multi-drug 

resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB are on the 

rise, raising concerns about the efficacy of the current 

BCG vaccine and leaving many patients without effective 

treatment. This year, the World Health Organization 

reported the highest rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis 

ever recorded. 

A joint venture between the 

University of Oxford and 

Emergent BioSolutions Inc has 

been formed to develop the 

vaccine. 

Isis has exclusively licensed 

the MVA85A tuberculosis 

vaccine candidate and related 

A Gambian infant is inoculated 

as part of a previous 

technology to the Consortium. 

If successful, this would be the 

MRC study with the MVA85A 

first new vaccine licensed to 

vaccine. 

prevent tuberculosis in over 80 

years with major implications for control of the worldwide 

TB epidemic. 

The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium has secured 

£8 million from the Wellcome Trust and the Aeras Global 

TB Vaccine Foundation to fund a clinical trial to test the 

vaccine’s efficacy. The Phase IIb trial will involve 3,000 

infants in South Africa, and is likely to begin in 2009. 

Venturefest 2008 – 10 Years of Success 

Oxford Spin-out Equity Management 

Isis played its full role at Venturefest 2008, the 10th year 

that the event has provided professional support, advice 

and funding for early-stage and fast growth business. This 

year’s event was held at the Unipart site in the south of the 

city. Isis has been involved from the outset and this year we 

continued with our sponsorship of the event, Isis Enterprise 

had a display stand, and we co-chaired the Universities 

Technologies Seminar with the Research & Business 

Development Office at Oxford Brookes University. 

Dr Chris Towler has started as the new Director of Oxford 

Spin-out Equity Management, a new group charged with 

managing the University’s shareholdings in its spin-out 

companies and investing where it sees fit. 

James Mallinson, whose role has included managing the 

relationship between the University and its spin-outs for 

a number of years, has now moved into OSEM to work 

with Chris. 

Four Oxford technologies were presented at the Seminar 

and we are grateful to the speakers for taking part: 

Dr Kevin Matthews; Professor Alison Noble; Dr Richard 

Wade-Martins and Professor Hagan Bayley. 

www.venturefest.com 

Chris’s arrival marks a significant step-up in this activity for 

the University and Isis. Whilst OSEM reports directly into 

the University, Chris and James are based in Isis’s offices in 

Summertown. Chris has spent the last few years in a senior 

management position at Imperial College London. 

3

Innovation and Public Policy 

Richard Lambert – Director-General, CBI 

I was billed to speak to the Oxford Innovation Society dinner 

on the important subject of ‘Living with Open Innovation’. 

But I thought it would be odd to discuss innovation without 

focussing on the Government White Paper Innovation Nation. 

The White Paper gives us the clearest sense yet of the 

direction of travel intended by the new Department for 

Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). 

And it is also going to shape the way in which very large 

sums of public money are invested in the future. According 

to this document, the Government has set aside more than 

£2.5 billion in the Comprehensive Spending Review to 

support innovation in the public services alone over the next 

three years. 

The White Paper also raises policy issues which need further 

debate. 

In the past, the Government has often given the impression 

that it thinks innovation is a linear process, driven by 

spending on research and development. The reality of 

course is that R&D is important, but it doesn’t tell anything 

like the whole story. 

Many of Britain’s most innovative and successful companies 

are in the retail and financial services sectors, and simply 

don’t have an R&D line in their profit and loss accounts. 

Service sectors account for around 75 per cent of output 

in the UK, and R&D spending is absolutely not their most 

important source of innovation. Indeed only about a third of 

UK business spending on innovation is on R&D. 

What are the policy implications of this? 

Certainly not that we can afford to switch money away from 

the science budget. Despite this Government’s good record 

of increasing public investment in science over the past eight 

or nine years, the UK’s public and private spending on R&D 

is still most likely too low. 

But it does mean we should be looking for new ways to 

measure and understand the pace of innovation in our 

economy. To this end, the Government is tasking NESTA 

(National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) 

Richard Lambert – Director-General, CBI. 

Innovation Nation does not 

provide all the answers but 

it shows that Government 

thinking has now caught up 

with the way that innovation 

is working in a modern 

economy 

with developing a new Innovation Index from 2009 onwards 

to “provide a comprehensive assessment of the UK’s true 

capacity for innovation.” 

DIUS is also going to produce an Annual Innovation Report 

this year and – along with NESTA, the Economic and Social 

Research Council (ESRC) and the Technology Strategy Board 

– plans to create an Innovation Research Centre. This, it 

seems to me, could be a very worthwhile initiative. 

4

The White Paper also places much emphasis on the need 

for Government to improve its performance in driving 

innovation by way of the £150 billion it spends each year on 

procuring goods and services. 

Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the US, but with a much 

broader remit and much more modest resources. It would be 

a great shame if this valuable initiative were crushed under 

the weight of unrealistic expectations. 

So, what’s been left out? 

It is rather startling that the paper makes no mention of 

the Research Excellence Framework that is currently being 

designed by the Higher Education Funding Council for 

England to replace the Research Assessment Exercise, 

probably from next year. Like the RAE, the new framework 

will be easily the most important tool at the Government’s 

disposal for giving recognition, reward and motivation to 

academics in their research efforts. 

We are also going to have to wait for two papers in 

addition to the recent Higher Level Skills Strategy: a Science 

and Society Strategy and an International Strategy. Taken 

together, this little lot should tell us a lot more about what 

DIUS thinks it has been put on earth to achieve. 

The White Paper throws up two broader issues for debate. 

The Government has 

recognised the importance of 

innovation 

What are the conclusions to be drawn from Innovation 

Nation? 

First, the Government has caught up with the ideas of open 

innovation, whether the exchanging of ideas in a supply 

chain, or firms inviting the users of their products or services 

to contribute innovations over the internet. 

Second, the Government has recognised the importance 

of innovation in the services sector, which is especially 

important given the shape of the UK’s economic structures. 

One is about how DIUS is actually going to exercise its lead 

role in innovation. The day before Innovation Nation was 

published, the Department for Business launched its own 

10-year strategy on Enterprise, detailing five areas where 

government intends to focus its efforts. These include 

“business innovation” and “knowledge and skills”. What’s the 

overlap, and who is going to do the joining up? 

The other concerns the role and mission of the Technology 

Strategy Board. Even before the White Paper was published, 

there was good reason to be worried that the TSB would not 

have enough resources to accomplish its mission. It will have 

just £1bn to spend over three years. 

Now it looks as though a growing number and weight of 

responsibilities and expectations are to be placed on this 

fledgling organisation – bringing about major societal 

change, playing an important leadership role across all 

sectors of the economy, stimulating innovation in those areas 

which offer the greatest scope for boosting UK growth and 

productivity. 

This is a very big ask. We are talking in essence about 

something like the mission-oriented Defence Advanced 

Third, DIUS – like all other Government departments in the 

current very tight fiscal environment – is strapped for cash. 

Fourth, all the big questions about the role and funding of 

universities have yet to be answered. 

Secretary of State, John Denham is realistic about the role 

of Government in stimulating commercial innovation. He 

likes to joke that his great undelivered speech is called ‘How 

Tesco could have been made more innovative by turning to 

the Government for help?’. 

Innovation Nation does not provide all the answers but it 

shows that Government thinking has now caught up with the 

way that innovation is working in a modern economy. And 

that is surely something to welcome. 

contact 

Richard Lambert, Director-General 

Confederation of British Industry 

Centre Point 

103, New Oxford Street 

London WC1A 1DU 

5

Using your Heads – getting it right with 

Heads of Terms 

White & Black – OIS seminar and dinner Sponsor 

These days, heads of terms (otherwise known as term sheets, 

letters of intent or memoranda of understanding) are very 

commonly used in corporate transactions. In this article, 

Phil Riman of specialist corporate and technology law firm 

White & Black discusses the benefits and pitfalls of this type 

of document. 

Heads of terms are now very much part of the standard 

transaction documentation and they can help to avoid 

misunderstandings and iron out any misconceptions right 

at the start of the deal. They are used to set out the main 

terms of the transaction and will often provide a “route map” 

of the steps required to get to completion. However, they 

are often produced with little thought being given as to 

whether they are appropriate in the context of the deal in 

question, and all too often they are produced without the 

same care and attention that goes into the main contractual 

documentation. 

Do you actually need a term sheet? 

Think carefully whether you need to use a full term sheet. 

There is a real risk that the parties can get bogged down in 

unnecessary detail at this initial stage, and this can delay the 

preparation of the full contractual documentation, as well 

as unnecessarily increase costs and tensions between the 

parties. Always make sure that the time taken to negotiate 

the heads is proportionate to the benefit, and bear in mind 

that it can sometimes be more efficient to get on with the 

main contract rather than worrying about the term sheet. 

Do not make the mistake of negotiating the main contract 

twice! 

Not binding? Not always… 

Term sheets are often prepared on the basis that they are not 

legally binding and will often include the words “subject to 

contract” in a prominent position, usually on the first page. 

Whilst this gives a strong indication that the parties did not 

intend the document to be legally binding, recent case law 

shows that the courts will sometimes conclude that a binding 

agreement was reached where the parties go on to do those 

things contemplated by the document, even where it was 

marked “subject to contract”. 

Always make sure that the 

time taken to negotiate the 

heads is proportionate to the 

benefit, and bear in mind that 

it can sometimes be more 

efficient to get on with the 

main contract rather than 

worrying about the term sheet 

You should not assume that you can rely on the “subject 

to contract” wording where you are dealing with a foreign 

party. Many foreign jurisdictions do not recognise the term 

and most continental European jurisdictions will impose an 

obligation to negotiate in good faith. This means you could 

be liable for damages if you break off negotiations without 

6

good reason, or if you try to modify a key term that was 

agreed in the heads of terms. 

Even where the term sheet is not legally binding, it can create 

a strong moral obligation. Many parties will resist deviating 

from the principles agreed at the heads of terms stage, as 

they see this as “moving the goalposts”. It is often the case 

that one party to the deal has less information than the other 

(a buyer will know less about a business than a seller, and an 

investor will know less about a business than the company 

itself). Be cautious if you find yourself in this position, and use 

the heads of terms to set out any key assumptions you are 

making about the deal (such as the assumption that certain 

key contracts will be in place by completion, or that your due 

diligence exercise will not produce any material issues). 

If you do wish parts of the term sheet to be binding, you 

must make this clear in the document. It is quite usual for an 

exclusivity period given to a buyer to complete the deal and 

this provision, together with the obligations of confidentiality 

and possibly an agreement for one of the parties to pay the 

other’s costs in certain circumstances, are often expressed to 

be legally binding. 

When prepared properly, 

a term sheet can make the 

negotiation of the main 

documentation a smooth and 

painless process 

Make it very clear which parts of the heads of terms are 

intended to be binding and which are not. Involve your 

lawyer to make sure that you get this right. 

Set out any assumptions you’re relying on, particularly 

where your own knowledge about the business is not as 

great as that of the other party. 

Understand what you are signing (particularly where you 

are making any sort of concession to the other party) 

and make sure you have taken professional advice on 

the document. This does not just include legal advice: 

you should also make sure you understand the tax 

consequences of the deal and, in the context of an 

acquisition, be aware that the mere act of signing heads 

of terms can sometimes restrict your ability to carry out 

any pre-sale tax planning. 

Identify the steps which have to be taken in order to 

complete the deal. Who will prepare the main documentation? 

Will a full due diligence exercise be required? 

Will updated accounts have to be produced? Will the 

consent of any third parties be required, or will tax 

clearance be needed? Make sure everyone is aware of 

their responsibilities for dealing with all these points. 

Where appropriate, make it clear that the heads of terms 

are not intended to be exhaustive. This can be useful 

as it provides reassurance that you have not somehow 

conceded a point simply because it was not specifically 

addressed in the heads of terms. 

What makes a good term sheet? 

When prepared properly, a term sheet can make the negotiation 

of the main documentation a smooth and painless 

process. I always suggest that parties to a deal bear the 

following points in mind when preparing heads of terms: 

Set out the key components of the deal and, wherever 

possible, deal with any major points of principle which 

would otherwise have the potential to become “deal 

breakers” further down the line. State the underlying 

principles but leave the detail for the main documentation. 

contact 

Phil Riman, Senior Partner 

White & Black Corporate and Technology Lawyers 

The Great Barn, Chalford Park Barns, Oxford Road, 

Old Chalford, Oxfordshire OX7 5QR 

T +44 (0)800 035 2656 

7

Commercialising University Research – 

Threats and Opportunities 

Based on a talk given at the Oxford Innovation Society Meeting April 2008 

Since the change of government in 1997 there has been 

increasing government interest and government resource 

devoted to the so-called “third mission” of Universities 

i.e. the commercialisation of the knowledge they generate, 

the first two missions being teaching and research. This 

increasing focus is both a boon and a potential threat to 

the intrinsic values of a university, particularly a researchintensive 

one, since it diverts resource away from curiositydriven 

activity to more practical investigations. However 

results in Oxford show that, properly managed, the interaction 

between University and Industry can provide useful 

resources to both. 

Although “Knowledge Transfer” is thought by many to be a 

recent invention, universities have always been transferring 

knowledge. The current priorities seem to concentrate on 

the direct, and therefore relatively short-term, results of 

commercialising inventions. This could detract from the 

much more significant economic impact of teaching students 

and exploratory research of which the commercial outputs 

are usually long term and often initially undefined. 

Over ten years Oxford University has developed policies 

and processes which recognise the equally valid, but very 

different, value sets which apply in academic and commercial 

environments and has found ways to maximise their 

constructive symbiosis whilst avoiding, or at least managing, 

the inevitable conflicts. 

The University also invests in resources to support the 

commercialisation of research results. The Science Enterprise 

Centre, located in the Saïd Business School, runs courses 

on commercialisation for researchers which have an average 

attendance of over 300 per session. The Research Services 

Office, located in the University’s central administration, but 

with satellite offices in the academic divisions, is currently 

administering over £250 million of research grants and 

contracts per annum as well as working with Isis Innovation 

to check ownership of the Intellectual Property Rights in 

inventions before they are commercialised. 

Since 1997 Isis Innovation has filed 620 patents, signed 

400 options and licences and helped researchers establish 

59 spin-out companies which between them have raised 

£334 million in external investment. Since 2003 Oxford 

University Consulting, part of Isis Innovation, has assisted 

Oxford researchers in signing 380 consultancy agreements. 

Finally the University’s wholly owned science park 

at Begbroke provides incubation space for start-up and 

spin-out companies as well as longer term accommodation 

for them as they grow. 

However a university can only become an effective part 

of its regional commercial infrastructure when the other 

participants (companies, professional service providers, 

consultants, etc.) become part of a network that includes 

the university. Such a coherent network takes some time to 

develop and it is only through sustained commitment from 

the University (both in policies, resources and “attitude”) 

over perhaps ten years that commercial organisations 

(whether companies, accountants, lawyers, patent agents or 

investors) come to see the University as a resource for their 

own businesses. The results in Oxford have shown that this 

is indeed possible to the benefit both of the University and 

its commercial partners. 

contact 

Professor Tim Cook, Director 

Isis Innovation Ltd 

T +44 (0)1865 280837 

E tim.cook@sbs.ox.ac.uk 

W www.isis-innovation.com 

8

Helping innovators make bigger waves 

Oxford Innovation Society Member: PA Consulting 

Adrian Howson and Ian Dunckley describe how PA Consulting 

(PA) helps companies, such as packaging innovator Burgopak, 

to ring-fence their Intellectual Property safely 

Realising the full potential of innovative ideas 

When a company collaborates with one that is larger or 

has key technology, it is hard to do so on equal terms. In 

particular, disputes can arise about ownership of Intellectual 

Property (IP); unless the smaller company has taken its 

invention to a fairly advanced stage before revealing the 

details to a prospective partner, it can find itself sharing, or 

even forfeiting, some profits from its innovation. 

PA’s client Burgopak had invented a highly novel packaging 

format, and initially had the packs hand-assembled in China 

and India; these hand-made packs were soon in demand 

for high-value products such as mobile phones and DVDs. 

However, in order to apply the concept to mass-produced 

applications such as pharmaceutical blister packs, it would 

be necessary to move to an automated manufacturing 

process. To make this possible, Burgopak needed to join 

forces with a manufacturing company, but it realised that it 

needed to be well-prepared before describing its product 

to the wider world. 

Learning to swim with the big fish 

Exploring alternative manufacturing methods 

In addition, we not only defined the optimum way of 

manufacturing the pack, but also explored several alternative 

manufacturing methods in considerable depth. As well as 

allowing Burgopak to be sure that our chosen solution was 

the best, this also meant that we could patent the alternative 

manufacturing methods, in addition to our chosen method. 

This precaution ensured that Burgopak’s IP could not be 

threatened by a rival using a slightly different manufacturing 

process to produce an equivalent product. 

Bright future for Burgopak 

With its IP safeguarded, Burgopak was well-positioned to 

explore the marketplace for suitable partners. It subsequently 

formed an alliance under which Bosch-Sigpak would 

build machines to assemble the packs. The first production 

line for manufacturing the ‘Pocketpaks’ with these machines 

is due to open in 2008 at Brecon Pharmaceuticals Limited 

in Wales. 

Burgopak knew that its particular point of vulnerability was a 

lack of definition of the manufacturing process. PA therefore 

offered to develop the manufacturing process, defining as 

many aspects as possible including the architecture for the 

machines, and then building risk demonstration hardware. 

This we did, working closely with both Burgopak and the 

patent agents who would protect its IP. The architecture that 

emerged in the area of the band assembly involved a simple 

heat sealing and cutting mechanism, and more importantly a 

patentable high-speed flow-forming mechanism. 

“After three months of working with PA, we had a gained a 

realistic idea of what was and wasn’t possible, for example 

in terms of the speed of manufacture. This knowledge has 

stood us in good stead in our subsequent negotiations with 

machine builders and manufacturers.” 

contact 

John O’Neill, PA Consulting 

Cambridge Technology Centre 

Melbourn Herts SG8 6DP 

T +44 (0)1763 267133 

W www.paconsulting.com 

9

A BETTER WAY TO SYNTHESISE 

FLAVOURS AND FRAGRANCES 

ISIS PROJECT NUMBER 3159 

Research from the Department of 

Inorganic Chemistry has led to a new 

series of altered CYP enzymes for 

use in the flavour and fragrances 

(f&f) industry and beyond. This new 

series includes the first highly active 

single-site alteration to a natural CYP 

enzyme. 

Marketing opportunities 

Sales by the top 10 f&f companies 

reached $14bn in 2007, and the total 

sales volumes are estimated at $20bn. 

The market has experienced steady 

growth over the last 5 years, and 

growth is expected to rise over the 

next decade as pressure on food and 

energy sources continues. 

Current ‘chemical’ oxidation methods 

are energy intense and lack activity 

and selectivity. By comparison, our 

biochemical transformation methods 

are low energy, and thus provide an 

attractive alternative for a low-carbon 

future. 

The Oxford invention 

Oxford University’s researchers have 

developed novel enzyme based ‘white 

biotechnology’ that has the capability 

to perform regioselective oxidation on 

small chain (C3-C15) linear and cyclic 

hydrocarbons. 

Hydroxyl groups can readily be introduced 

into specific sites in the molecule 

with a high degree of stereoselectivity. 

Non-activated C-H groups can 

be targeted. Typically the oxidation 

produces high yields of relatively pure 

compounds. 

Active sites and access channel residues in 

CYP102A. 

Applications 

The initial applications are in the 

production of speciality chemicals in the 

f&f industry. Materials of interest include 

Menthol, Nootkatone and Verbenone. 

Beyond this the technology has potential 

for biosensing and bioremediation. 

Advantages 

The new CYP enzymes: 

Offer a range of activities and 

regioselectivity 

Require in some cases only singlesite 

modification of the natural 

enzyme 

Provide low-energy and clean 

routes to the production of high 

value chemicals. 

Patent status 

Isis Innovation has filed a patent 

application on the new technology. In 

addition, Isis is building a portfolio 

of CYP intellectual property which 

includes granted patents. This portfolio 

will allow a company to take a strategic 

position in the emerging world of CYP 

oxidation. We welcome discussions 

with companies who have an interest 

in driving the commercial development 

of the technology. 

Detailed technical description 

CYP102A1 from Bacillus megaterium is 

an attractive target as it is catalytically 

self-sufficient and can be expressed 

in gram-scale. Directed evolution and 

site-specific mutagenesis have been 

employed to engineer new CYP102A1 

variants that greatly enhance product 

formation rates with substrates as 

diverse as naphthalene, alkylbenzenes 

and short-chain alkanes. New selectivity 

options have also become available. 

One variant involves a single mutation 

at a residue not previously subjected to 

mutagenesis, which appears to constrict 

the active site, resulting typically in 

altered selectivity patterns, and often 

improved product yields. The other 

new variants show little overlap with 

previously reported variants. 

contact 

Dr John Wilson, Project Manager 

Technology Transfer Group 

T +44 (0)1865 280844 

E john.wilson@isis.ox.ac.uk 


10

New way to fight inflammation 

discovered at Oxford 

Isis project number 3050 

Isis Innovation, the technology transfer 

arm of the University of Oxford, 

presents a new drug candidate for 

treatment of inflammatory disorders. 

Background 

Inflammation is the natural protective 

response of vascular tissue to injury and 

infection. Tissue damage leads to the 

production of a series of inflammatory 

mediators that recruit neutrophils, 

monocytes and macrophages into the 

site of injury. As well as protecting the 

host, inflammation initiates the healing 

process. 

Despite the beneficial role of inflammation 

in host defence, excessive 

inflammatory responses and prolonged 

macrophage activation can lead to a 

multitude of inflammatory disorders. 

Oxford invention 

Researchers at the University of 

Oxford have discovered a series of 

new peptide molecules that have 

potential as treatments of inflammatory 

disorders, including endotoxic 

shock, inflammatory bowel disease, 

rheumatoid arthritis, uveitis and 

atherosclerosis. 

The peptides work by reducing the 

production of inflammatory cytokines 

and signaling proteins which play an 

important role in the body’s response to 

infection and injury, but are also implicated 

in excessive immune responses 

in inflammatory diseases. 

Dr David Greaves, at the University of 

Oxford’s Sir William Dunn School of 

Pathology, said his group’s work could 

Dr David Greaves. 

Inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis, 

macrophages are stained in brown and the 

numerous T and B cells have round blue 

nuclei. 

provide a new approach to developing 

treatments for chronic inflammation: 

“All the drugs that we currently have 

for treating inflammation target 

pro-inflammatory molecules, and all 

have side-effects. Essentially they’re 

dampening down pro-inflammatory 

signals, not controlling the underlying 

inflammation. Our approach taps into 

the body’s naturally occurring antiinflammatory 

mechanism.” 

The peptides work by inhibiting 

activated macrophages via the G 

protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), 

ChemR23 – substantially reducing the 

production of inflammatory cytokines 

such as TNFα, MCP-1, IL-6 and IL-1β. 

In addition, the same peptides dramatically 

enhance clearance of pathogens 

and debris, potentially speeding up 

the body’s ability to recover from 

inflammation. This might be important 

for treatment of diseases such as 

age-related macular degeneration 

and Alzheimer’s disease. 

The Greaves laboratory has established 

that the peptides exhibit potent antiinflammatory 

activity in pre-clinical 

models of inflammation. 

“The attraction of these peptides is that 

they’re active at very low concentrations 

(picomolar), and they have a great 

deal of promise for use as new therapeutic 

drugs,” said Greaves. 

The work recently formed the basis 

of a paper published in the Journal 

of Experimental Medicine (Cash et al, 

2008, JEM Vol. 205, No. 4, 767-775). 

Patent status 

This work is the subject of a patent 

application, and Isis would like to talk 

to companies interested in developing 

the peptides as new therapeutics. 

contact 

Dr Weng Sie Wong, Project Manager 

– Technology Transfer Group 

T +44 (0)1865 280842 

E weng.wong@isis.ox.ac.uk 


11

LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICES WITH STABILISED 

TRANSIENT STATES 


Liquid Crystal Displays utilising stabilised non-permanent 

liquid crystal states providing devices that are brighter and 

handle higher quality moving images by reducing image 

distortion, breaking and ghosting effects. 

Conventional LC Devices 

Marketing opportunity 

Display manufacturers are committed to continuous innovation 

and performance enhancement of the Liquid Crystal Displays 

(LCDs). Conventional LCD devices only employ the permanent 

states of a liquid crystal (LC). The non-permanent LC states 

can have improved properties leading to LCD Televisions, 

Mobile Phones and PDAs having: 

(a) 

(b) 

Oxford LC devices 

Figure 1 above compares the intensity dynamic range for conventional 

and Oxford LC devices (a) ON-state (bright level) at 0 Volts (b) OFF-state 

(dark level) at 7 Volts. 

O Vrms 

A faster (sub-millisecond) response time enabling 

reduction in moving picture artefacts 

Increased battery life due to lower power consumption 

Higher brightness 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

However, the short lifetime of these LC states makes them 

difficult to be studied, and they have not been commercially 

utilised. 


Oxford researchers have demonstrated a novel poly merisation 

method that stabilises the non-permanent liquid crystal 

states and enhances the performance of these LCDs over 

the conventional technology. For example by stabilising the 

non-permanent state in a pi-cell results in: 

Fig. 2 The LC devices using Oxford polymerization method show no 

dynamic range suppression and unwanted recovery 

Compared with the conventional devices the Oxford devices 

have brightness enhancement of the ON-state by a factor of 

1.18. Moreover, by placing the rubbing direction parallel to 

the crossed polarizers, the Oxford devices are stabilized in the 

transient RB state (Figure 2(b)). 

Furthermore, Oxford devices could be used with a switching 

backlight technique to achieve a much higher dynamic range. 

Higher intensity dynamic range as compared to the 

conventionally polymerised devices (see figure 1) 

Lower power consumption and faster response time 

No unwanted recovery into the splay or twist states (see 

figure 2) 

Figure 2(a) demonstrates that the conventional devices (normal 

pi-cell) have the problem of unwanted recovery (at 0 V rms), 

which is not suitable for display operation. As a result we need 

to apply 2 Vrms to the conventional devices (normal pi-cell) 

to prevent this, however Oxford LC devices (RB pi-cell) have 

no unwanted recovery into topologically distinct states when 

the field is removed (figure 2(c)). Figure 2 (d) compares the 

OFF-state (at 7 Vrms) of the conventional and Oxford devices. 

Patent status 

This work is the subject of a UK patent application, and Isis 

would like to talk to companies interested in commercialising 

this opportunity. Please contact the Isis Project Manager to 

discuss this further. 

contact 

Dr Rakesh Roshan, 

Project Manager – Technology Transfer Group 

T +44 (0)1865 280853 

E rakesh.roshan@isis.ox.ac.uk 


12

Chilli Pepper Sensor 


Professor Richard Compton and 

co-researchers have developed a novel 

way to determine the “hotness” of 

chilli peppers. 

Hot topic 

Look around any high street or supermarket 

and it is clear that consumer 

demand for spicy foods is growing. 

Indeed, world demand for hot chilli 

peppers is over 2 million tonnes 

annually, most of which is produced in 

India, Pakistan and China. 

Out with the old… 

Capsaicin is the chemical responsible 

for the hot taste or piquancy of chilli 

peppers, and measuring the concentration 

of capsaicin is an indicator of 

“hotness” of any given chilli pepper, 

hot sauce and other related foodstuff. 

Currently capsaicin concentration in 

foods is measured using the Scoville-unit 

based system, which can be traced back 

to 1912. Five tasters are given increasingly 

diluted samples until they can 

no longer taste the heat; clearly very 

subjective. High Performance Liquid 

Chromatography (HPLC) is also used for 

quality assurance in the food industry, 

but is disfavoured on grounds of its 

requirement for bulky and expensive 

equipment that is impractical to use in 

remote producing regions. 

is a fantastic detection technique for 

capsaicinoids because it’s so simple – it 

integrates over all of the heat creating 

constituents because all the capsaicinoids 

have essentially the same electrochemical 

response.” MWCNTs offer the 

advantage of having a huge surface 

area for the adsorption of capsaicin, 

leading to an enhanced electrochemical 

response. Compton’s invention determines 

capsaicin concentration electrochemically 

and results tally very well to 

the existing methods. 

Commercialisation 

This analytical method, patented by Isis 

Innovation, has been further developed 

into a screen-printed electrode, demonstrating 

that this approach can be incorporated 

into a sensing device that is 

easy to use, accurate and inexpensive 

to produce. According to Compton, 

“The sensor could be used by the 

food industry to ascertain capsaicin 

concentration in a much more straightforward 

manner than human tasting or 

HPLC,” he explains, “there is a possibility 

for making a low cost device, with 

simple handheld electronics, for use 

on chilli producing farms and also as a 

gourmet gadget for the restaurant or 

domestic market!” Isis is keen to speak 

to companies interested in partnering 

this opportunity. 

Compton’s 

invention 

determines 

capsaicin 

concentration 

electrochemically 

and results tally 

very well to the 

existing methods 

In with the new… 

This invention is a sensitive electroanalytical 

methodology for the determination 

of capsaicin using adsorptive 

stripping voltammetry (ASV) with multiwalled 

carbon nanotube (MWCNT) 

based electrodes. Compton says, “ASV 

contact 

Dr Jamie Ferguson, Project Manager 

– Technology Transfer Group 

T +44 (0)1865 280851 

E jamie.ferguson@isis.ox.ac.uk 


13

Micro-RNA: a powerful tool for cancer 

prognosis 


The accurate prediction of how an individual cancer patient’s 

tumour will develop is critical in guiding clinicians’ treatment 

strategies. A variety of prognostic factors are typically 

assessed, from tumour size to histological grade, but these 

are often poorly effective in determining whether a patient 

will benefit from adjuvant therapies, which are now in 

widespread use in the clinic. 

Adjuvant therapies are given to patients in addition to primary 

therapies such as surgery and radiotherapy. For example, in 

breast cancer, pharmaceutical adjuvant therapies have been 

shown to help prevent the original cancer from returning, 

and also to help prevent the development of new cancers. 

However, while these therapies can be very effective in some 

cases, and have improved the prospect of survival for many 

cancer patients, other individuals do not respond, and often 

suffer unpleasant side effects. Identifying at the point of 

diagnosis which patients will benefit from adjuvant therapy 

is therefore highly desirable. 

Researchers at the University of Oxford (Prof Adrian Harris, Dr 

Jiannis Ragoussis, Dr Carme Camps) and at Flinders Medical 

Centre (Prof Jonathan Gleadle) have used a new approach 

to help establish at an early stage whether a breast cancer 

patient is likely to respond positively to adjuvant therapies. 

Based on the knowledge that small RNA molecules called 

microRNAs are differentially expressed in tumours, the 

researchers sought to identify whether specific examples 

were associated with patient mortality. More specifically, they 

looked at microRNAs associated with hypoxic (low oxygen) 

conditions, hypoxia being a characteristic of many tumours. 

219 breast cancer tumour samples collected from patients 

over a period spanning initial diagnosis through to clinical 

outcome. This enabled the researchers to determine whether 

and to what extent expression of the specific microRNAs 

corresponded to the survival of the patients. 

One microRNA (miRNA-210) was found to exhibit a highly 

significant inverse correlation with both recurrence-free 

and overall survival of the patients – i.e. the data show that 

patients with the highest levels of expression of miRNA-210 

are more likely to develop a recurrence of breast cancer and 

are more likely to die from breast cancer than those patients 

with lower levels of expression. Given that it is known 

that patients with the poorest survival prognosis are those 

which are more likely to benefit from adjuvant therapies, 

miRNA-210 analysis could be an important tool in informing 

clinicians’ prescribing decisions. 

MiRNA-210 therefore potentially represents a single molecule, 

cost effective prognostic for breast cancer. A patent has been 

filed by Isis Innovation Ltd and further research is underway at 

the University to further characterise the prognostic potential 

of the molecule. In particular, the applicability of miRNA-210 

to other cancers is being explored, and the methods for 

detection in tissue and blood samples will be refined. 

The intellectual property protecting miRNA-210 is available 

for licensing from Isis, and companies interested in working 

with Oxford to develop the invention into a commercial 

product should contact the Isis Project Manager. 

MicroRNAs represent attractive clinical and commercial 

targets for use as prognostic factors. They are known to be 

highly important in (down) regulating gene expression, and 

are stable and easy to analyse compared to messenger RNA, 

which degrades rapidly. 

The researchers initially identified microRNAs for which 

there was a significant change in expression associated 

with hypoxic conditions. Eleven microRNAs were found to 

be differentially expressed between cells grown in normal 

and low oxygen levels, and of these only three exhibited a 

greater than two-fold induction in response to hypoxia. The 

microRNA candidates were then analysed against a bank of 

contact 

Dr Adam Stoten 

Project Team Manager – Technology Transfer Group 

T +44 (0)1865 280909 

E adam.stoten@isis.ox.ac.uk 


14

Greater efficiency from silicon solar cells 


University of Oxford researchers have developed a method 

for treating solar cell multicrystalline silicon to increase its 

efficiency 

Background 

The solar cell market is currently growing at 40% or more 

per year with the dominant technology being based on 

multicrystalline silicon. Compared to single crystal material 

multicrystalline silicon is cheap to produce but it also 

contains more electrically active defects that serve to reduce 

the overall efficiency of the completed cells. The most 

important of these defects is widely acknowledged to be line 

defects (dislocations). 

Optical micrograph showing typical defects in multicrystalline silicon. 


Researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a 

method for treating multicrystalline silicon that counteracts 

the problem of the electrical activity of dislocations. The 

technique is: 

low cost 

low temperature 

a simple process carried out on the device surface 

Preliminary studies have shown that the electrical effects of 

dislocations can be modified to a depth of 30 microns or 

more, whilst still maintaining structural integrity of the silicon 

substrate. 

Researchers at the University 

of Oxford have developed 

a method for treating 

multicrystalline silicon that 

counteracts the problem 

of the electrical activity of 

dislocations 

Patent status 

This work is the subject of patent application, and Isis would 

like to talk to companies interested in developing the 

commercial opportunity that this represents. Please contact 

the Isis Project Manager to discuss this further. 

contact 

Dr Stuart Wilkinson 


T +44 (0)1865 280907 

E stuart.wilkinson@isis.ox.ac.uk 


15

Going dotty… nanodots made easy 


University of Oxford researchers have developed a simple, 

quick and reliable method for producing nanostructured 

arrays for optical, electronic & magnetic applications. 

A method for forming arrays of nanostructures has been 

developed at the University, which does not require the use 

of templates or serial writing. The structures have promising 

applications in a wide variety of optical, electronic and 

magnetic applications, including magnetic force microscopy 

and photoluminescence. 

Background 

The properties of one-dimensional nanostructures arise from 

their large surfaces and possible quantum confinement 

effects. However, current methods of making nanostructured 

arrays using focussed ion beam (FIB) technologies require 

the use of masks or templates, which have limited accuracy, 

and achieve poor aspect ratios. 

Enhancing data storage 

The Oxford nanostructures have exciting prospects for 

data storage; the multilayer structures exhibit vortex state 

magnetization, which can enhance data records and magnetic 

random access memories. 


The Oxford technology uses lithographic patterning, followed 

by rastering with FIB to create an array which allows a variety 

of nanostructures to be produced, including nanoneedles, 

nanodots, nanorings and nanorods. 

The technique produces an array in less than three minutes. 

Its structure depends on the ion dose or exposure time. A 

lower dose creates the rounded dots, while a higher dose 

produces pointed needle shapes. 

The method requires no wet chemical etchants, and 

produces precisely positioned features, of the order of a few 

nanometres, by an efficient, simple and low cost procedure. 

Electron micrographs showing the range of nano-structure arrays which 

can be produced. 

Patent status 

This work is the subject of patent application, and Isis would 

like to talk to companies interested in developing the 

commercial opportunity that this represents. Please contact 

the Isis Project Manager to discuss this further. 

contact 

Dr Stuart Wilkinson 


T +44 (0)1865 280907 

E stuart.wilkinson@isis.ox.ac.uk 


16

STRATEGIES FOR SELECTIVE PROTEIN 

MODIFICATION 

Isis project NUMBERS 1147 and 3620 

Oxford Researchers have developed new strategies for 

selective protein modification. 

Background 

Post-translational modification (PTM) is an important step in 

protein biosynthesis that increases the range of functions of a 

protein. Protein function can be adjusted by the attachment of 

other biological entities (e.g. carbohydrates, lipids, phosphates), 

or by inducing chemical changes that can, for example, cause 

the protein to adopt a new 3-dimensional structure. 

sulphur-containing amino acid, is converted to dehydroalanine 

(Dha) via an oxidative elimination. Dha provides a convenient 

chemical handle for further post-translational modifications, 

enabling selective attachment of other molecules to proteins. 

The method is advantageous over other PTM methods because 

it produces one well-defined protein conjugate rather than an 

heterogeneous mixture. The method is also simple, quick and 

relatively inexpensive compared to enzymatic techniques. 

Marketing opportunity 

Selective engineering of proteins has been used to develop 

therapeutic proteins for the treatment of cancer, cystic 

fibrosis, diabetes, anaemia, and more. The market for therapeutic 

proteins is large ($37 billion in 2003) and growing 

(>15% growth p.a.), and is expected to reach $90 billion by 

2010. However, the accurate and consistent bioprocessing of 

therapeutic proteins is very difficult, due to their sensitivity 

to preparative conditions. This presents challenges for the 

manufacture, regulation and safety of therapeutic proteins. 

There is an immediate need for methods that enable specific 

and controllable modification of proteins. 

The Oxford inventions 

Professor Benjamin G. Davis (Dept. of Chemistry) leads a 

large and active research programme in the fields of carbohydrate 

and protein chemical biology. Several technologies 

developed in the Davis research group are available for 

licensing from Isis Innovation. Here we highlight some new 

strategies for the site-selective modification of proteins. 

Strategy 1 (Isis project 1147) uses site directed mutagenesis 

and chemical modification to tailor the substrate specificity 

of carbohydrate processing enzymes 1 . The enzymes can 

perform selective glycosylation of proteins or may be used to 

purify mixtures of glycoproteins via selective deglycosylation. 

This method offers a general and versatile route to highly 

pure glycoproteins which may be therapeutically effective. 

Strategy 2 (Isis project 3620) is a new method for the siteselective 

modification of proteins 2 . In this method, cysteine, a 

Strategy 2: Conversion of cysteine to dehydroalanine. 

The Oxford researchers have exploited the Dha handle 

afforded by strategy 2, to enable attachment via an olefin 

metathesis reaction of various molecules (e.g. polyethylene 

glycol, carbohydrates, peptides, proteins, lipids, phosphates) 

to proteins 3 . The method, which can be carried out in water 

at room temperature, is extremely rapid and site selective, 

and provides access to highly pure glycoproteins. 

Patent status 

These technologies are the subject of three international 

patent applications, and Isis would like to talk to companies 

interested in developing the commercial opportunities that 

they represent. Please contact the Isis Project Manager to 

discuss this further. 

Ref 1: S.M. Hancock, K. Corbett, A.P. Fordham-Skelton, J.A. 

Gatehouse, B.G. Davis, ChemBioChem, 6, 866 (2005). 

Ref 2: G.J.L. Bernardes, J.M. Chalker, J.C. Errey, B.G. Davis, J. 

Am. Chem. Soc, 130, 5052 (2008). 

Ref 3: Y.A. Lin, J.M. Chalker, N. Floyd, G.J.L Bernardes, B.G. Davis, 

J. Am. Chem. Soc. ASAP Article (2008). 

contact 

Dr Emma Sceats 


T +44 (0)1865 280856 

E emma.sceats@isis.ox.ac.uk 


17

Cancer Research UK award adenovirus 

process development contract to the CBF 

Oxford University Consulting 

Cancer Research UK has awarded the University of Oxford’s 

Clinical BioManufacturing Facility (CBF) its first commercial 

process development contract for the production of an 

adenovirus vector, for use in treating patients with recurrent 

ovarian cancer and hepatic metastases associated with 

colorectal cancer. 

The CBF already possesses a distinguished history in the 

production of biological products for use in medicine, in 

particular, monoclonal antibodies and related biologics*. 

Originally known as the Therapeutic Antibody Centre (TAC), 

the unit was a leading academic GMP (Good Manufacturing 

Practice) facility for the production of monoclonal antibodies 

and part of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. 

However, in November 2005 the unit became the CBF 

and joined the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine. 

Today the CBF’s focus is upon the challenges faced in the 

production of viral vectors for use as novel recombinant 

vaccines and for cancer therapy. Its most notable recent 

success has been in the production of their first vaccine for 

the prevention of malaria, which is in Phase I Clinical Trials 

at the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine. 

Two novel vaccines against hepatitis C have full approval 

from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory 

Agency (MHRA), and are about to start Phase I clinical trials 

this summer. 

CBF’s objective is to provide the link between academic 

research and clinical drug development, thereby facilitating 

the rapid progress of promising biologics into clinical trials. 

A suite of clean rooms with supporting QC (Quality Control) 

laboratories and a nominated Qualified Person enables the 

production of master cell banks, master virus seed stocks 

and clinical grade material. The CBF is unusual in that it also 

offers a fill and finish service. It is therefore able to offer a 

complete service, starting with DNA, and ending up with the 

final clinical drug product in its finished form. 

All work at the CBF is in compliance with the Manufacturer’s 

Authorisation for Investigational Medicinal Products, known 

as MIA(IMP), from the MHRA which ensures that the CBF 

is manufacturing and releasing final clinical trial products 

in accordance with the European Clinical Trials Directive, 

2004. The CBF’s MIA(IMP) permits the importation of certain 

product categories of investigational medicinal products 

from outside the EU, for use in clinical trials inside the 

European Union. 

Within the field of cancer gene therapy, adenoviruses are 

particularly promising vectors because they achieve efficient 

cell cycle-independent infection, they mediate a significant 

inflammatory effect, and they do not integrate into cellular 

DNA. Indeed the first two cancer gene therapy products, 

now licensed in China, are both adenoviruses. Adenovirus 

can be used to deliver therapeutic transgenes (e.g. encoding 

tumour suppressors or immunostimulatory proteins) or the 

virus can be designed to replicate selectively within cancer 

cells and cause destruction of them before spreading to 

infect adjacent cells, so called ‘virotherapy’. 

The work for Cancer Research UK will involve scaling up the 

production methodology of an adenovirus for virotherapy, 

known as VTP-1, so that sufficient quantities can be produced 

to permit its use in two Phase I clinical trials. 

Dr Shamim Kazmi-Stokes, a Principal Project Manager in 

Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office, said: “We 

selected the CBF for this contract as our previous experience 

with the team during the production of a chimeric monoclonal 

antibody – which is now in Phase I clinical trial – was very 

positive. Cancer Research UK recognises that the CBF team 

has an excellent skill set for virus production which will be 

invaluable to rise to, and overcome the challenges of viral 

vector process development and GMP manufacture.” 

Oxford University Consulting (OUC) negotiated this 

contract with Cancer Research UK on behalf of the Clinical 

BioManufacturing Facility. 

* Biologics are medicines produced by biological processes usually 

involving recombinant DNA technology. 

contact 

Gill Rowe 

Project Manager, Oxford University Consulting 

T +44 (0)1865 280825 

E gill.rowe@isis.ox.ac.uk 


18

Finance Act 2008 

James Cowper 

Following the passing of the 

Finance Act 2008, Sharon 

Bedford, Tax Partner at James 

Cowper highlights the mixed 

news for early stage technology 

companies. 

Research and development 

tax incentives 

Sharon Bedford, Tax Partner 

James Cowper. 

R&D tax incentives have 

helped fund the technological advances of many innovative 

companies by reducing their corporation tax bill or providing 

cash payments. 

There are two schemes, the large company scheme and the 

Small Medium Sized company (SME) scheme. Following the 

passing of the Finance Act 2008, companies qualifying under 

the SME scheme will benefit from an enhanced tax deduction 

which will increase from 150% to 175% of qualifying R&D 

expenditure; whilst for other companies the increase is from 

125% to 130%. The effective date of these changes has yet 

to be announced. 

Companies qualifying under the SME scheme have, subject 

to certain limits, been able to surrender R&D tax losses for 

cash of approx 24% of the eligible R&D spend. Despite the 

increase in the enhanced tax deduction percentages above, 

the cash back % has risen only slightly to 24.5%. 

It has also been confirmed that from 1 August 2008 more 

companies will qualify under the SME scheme, as the upper 

qualifying limits have doubled to 500 employees, €100m 

turnover and €86m balance sheet total. 

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) changes 

Since 6 April 2008 the standard rate of CGT has been fixed 

at 18%, irrespective of the type of asset and the length 

of ownership. Although this may reduce the tax payable 

on some capital assets (e.g. buy to let properties) it will 

generally increase the CGT payable on the sale of private 

trading companies: most investors previously qualifying for a 

10% rate after two years of ownership. 

The Finance Act 2008 enacts “entrepreneurs’ relief” which 

reintroduces the 10% rate on the first £1 million of lifetime 

gains for individual investors who have owned at least 5% of 

a company for 1 year and are an employee or officer of the 

company. Future funding rounds may have to be structured 

with these new rules in mind. 

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) 

For companies who can establish EIS status the changes 

in CGT rules may be less important in seeking funding. 

If properly structured EIS share investments can be CGT 

free after three years of ownership. The Finance Act also 

increases the EIS limit per individual in any one tax year from 

£400,000 to £500,000. 

This has, perhaps unintentionally, made EIS temporarily even 

more attractive for taxpayers who have CGT gains in the last 

three years between 20% to 40%. The tax on these gains can 

be deferred by rolling over into EIS shares; when the gain 

comes back into charge following the disposal of the EIS 

shares it should only be taxed at 18%. 

In order to enable to obtain EU approval to the above 

changes, concessions have had to be made. In future the 

total R&D relief on a given project will be capped at €7.5m 

and no cash back will be paid to companies whose last 

published accounts show they are not a going concern. As 

a result in future it may be harder to rely on R&D tax incentives 

to tie over the company’s finances until the next funding 

round; not ideal given the current credit crunch. 

contact 

Sharon Bedford, Tax Partner 

James Cowper 

Willow Court, 7 West Way, Oxford OX2 0JB 

T +44 (0)1865 200500 

W www.jamescowper.co.uk 

19

Oxford Nanopore Technologies 

Spin-out Company 

2008 is proving to be a busy and exciting year for Oxford 

Nanopore Technologies, one of Oxford’s most successful 

spinouts. First, in March, Oxford Nanolabs (as it was then) 

announced that it had secured £10m ($20.1m) in new 

investment from institutional and private investors, then 

in May the company changed its name to become Oxford 

Nanopore Technologies, or ‘Oxford Nanopore’. Reflecting 

this confidence, the company announced in June that it had 

appointed Dr John Milton as Director of Nanopore Chemistry 

and Clive G. Brown as Director of Bioinformatics and IT. So 

what’s behind this flurry of activity? The short answer is some 

great technology and, according to Professor Bayley, founder 

of the company and Professor of Chemical Biology at Oxford: 

“a model partnership between academia and industry.” 

Based on the research of Professor Bayley, Oxford Nanopore 

is developing nanopore technology to provide a revolutionary 

method of molecular detection and analysis. This 

has a broad range of potential applications including DNA 

sequencing, diagnostics and defence. 

BASE technology, Oxford Nanopore’s proprietary system 

for DNA sequencing, employs nanopores to process, identify 

and record DNA bases in sequence. In contrast to current 

sequencing technologies, nanopores can measure single 

molecules directly, without the need for nucleic acid amplification, 

chemical labelling, optical instrumentation and the 

need to convert photon signals into digital data. The system 

will be massively scalable as single nanopores can be set 

within individual wells in an arrayed silicon chip. 

Isis has been associated with the company since its inception 

– helping it to spin-out from the University in 2005, licensingin 

core technologies and patents, and supplying academic 

consultants through Isis’s dedicated consultancy arm – 

Oxford University Consulting. We wish Oxford Nanopore 

every success as it embarks on the next chapter of its development, 

and we look forward to continuing to support it in 

its quest to achieve a step-change in the power and cost of 

DNA sequencing. 

This novel and scalable technology has the potential to 

transform both the speed and cost of DNA sequencing and 

comes at a time when there is an explosive interest in the 

race for the ‘$1000 genome’. The company believes that its 

technology will enable a new era in medicine, agriculture, 

energy, biodiversity, evolutionary biology, genealogy and 

many other fields. 

The nanopore molecular detection system can be adapted 

to detect a wide range of molecules, including other nucleic 

acids, proteins, small organic molecules and ionic species. 

“The power and versatility of nanopores will make nanopores 

the technology of choice for molecular analysis,” says CEO, 

Gordon Sanghera. 

contact 

Andrew Goff 

Project Manager, Oxford University Consulting 

T +44 (0)1865 280866 

E andrew.goff@isis.ox.ac.uk 


Dr Gordon Sanghera 

Oxford Nanopore Technologies 

E Gordon.Sanghera@nanoporetech.com 

20

Portfolio news 

By James Mallinson 

Pharminox completes £2 million funding round 

NaturalMotion and NVIDIA bring a new level of realism 

to games 

NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader 

in programmable graphics processor technologies, and 

NaturalMotion Ltd, Oxford spin-out and the developer 

behind the highly acclaimed euphoria motion synthesis 

technology, today announced that the companies have 

teamed up to offer game developers and publishers easyto-use, 

highly integrated solutions for adding animation and 

physics in next-generation games. 

Pharminox Limited, an oncology R&D company spun out 

from the Department of Chemistry in 2002, announced that 

it has successfully completed a new round of equity funding, 

raising just over £2 million from new and existing investors. 

The proceeds of the funding will be used to progress the 

Company’s portfolio of novel small molecule cancer therapeutics. 

The Company also announced that following the fundraising, 

Mr Alan Miller, former Chief Investment Officer of New Star 

Asset Management, has joined the Pharminox Board as a 

Non-executive Director. 

Peter Worrall, Chief Executive of Pharminox said, “The new 

funds will be used primarily to advance the lead candidates 

from our telomere targeting and redox homeostasis 

modulator programmes into full preclinical development, 

and I am very grateful to our shareholders for their continued 

support. I am also delighted to welcome Alan Miller to the 

Board. Alan brings a wealth of investment and financial 

experience, which will be invaluable as the Company moves 

to the next stage in its development.” 

Pharminox has signed an agreement with the Schering-Plough 

Research Institute, the research arm of Schering-Plough 

Corporation, to undertake a joint research programme aimed 

at discovering novel small molecule anti-cancer therapies. 

“The introduction of NaturalMotion’s AI and Adaptive 

Behaviors is the next big breakthrough in gaming,” said 

Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA. 

“This technology takes us into a new level of immersion as 

characters roll, jump, duck and react to the players’ actions 

and the environments around them. We are delighted to 

be working with NaturalMotion to bring this new level of 

character animation to the world.” 

Starting with the upcoming release of NaturalMotion’s morpheme 

animation engine, NVIDIA’s PhysX technology will provide 

rigid body dynamics functionality across its product portfolio, 

supporting both console (PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii) and PC 

platforms. In addition, PC titles will benefit from GeForce GPU 

acceleration for both PhysX and future versions of morpheme, 

bringing additional motion fidelity to the PC game experience. 

“We’re deeply impressed by NVIDIA’s commitment and their 

investment in development and support infrastructure across 

all platforms,” said Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion. 

“NVIDIA’s PhysX technology provides a robust, high-fidelity 

foundation for our advanced character animation algorithms 

and tools. Through our close collaboration, we will help 

game developers bring fully interactive and believable 

characters to a wide range of games.” 

contact 

James Mallinson 

Portfolio Manager 

T +44 (0)1865 280903 

E james.mallinson@isis.ox.ac.uk 


21

An Introduction to Technology Transfer 

Isis Enterprise Seminar 

In April of this year Isis Enterprise hosted an event at the 

Begbroke Science Park on behalf of the Institute of Physics 

Consultancy Group. The title of the event was ‘An Introduction 

to Technology Transfer: Consulting for New Businesses.’ 

Isis Enterprise provides consultancy services for technology 

transfer activities. The specialist skills of individual members 

of professional organisations (such as the Institute of Physics) 

are keenly sought by new companies as are research and 

development organisations. 

The membership of the Consultancy Group of the Institute 

of Physics is a broad church of highly skilled individuals with 

many years of industrial experience. Members have joined 

the group to share their experiences of doing business and 

to develop their marketing contacts with the view to winning 

more business. The purpose of the event was to introduce 

the members to the world of technology transfer, with an 

emphasis on the work done in Oxford, by incorporating and 

growing new technology businesses with Isis Innovation and 

the Begbroke Science Park. 

The event was hosted at Begbroke Science Park, operated 

by Academic Director, Professor Peter Dobson. He gave a 

presentation on the activities of Business Research Fellows 

and the companies generated from these activities. Professor 

Dobson also gave the membership a tour of the park, 

showing the fully occupied building, filled with many Oxford 

spin-outs and the recently completed Enterprise Building. 

The members also visited Oxford Medical Diagnostics, (now 

part of Avacta Group) where Dr Wolfgang Denzer explained 

the technology and its application in detecting gases such 

as carbon dioxide, water vapour, hydrogen sulphide in 

industrial processes and also in clinical applications for the 

diagnosis of diseases. The visit was a good opportunity to 

see a real life technology spin-out that has grown from an 

idea in a university laboratory to a company that has had a 

successful commercial ‘exit’ through a trade sale. 

The first talk was given by Professor Tim Cook (the previous 

Managing Director of Isis Innovation) now Professor in 

Science Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School. He 

is a consultant and a non-executive director for a number of 

technology companies. Tim, as always, gave a highly entertaining 

and edifying talk on the pros and pitfalls of being a 

consultant, illustrated by many past examples. 

Following Tim’s talk, Henmans, a local law firm, gave two 

presentations. Stephen Brett gave a presentation on intellectual 

property and what to look out for when engaging 

with clients to protect your know-how, copyright, and inventions. 

This was followed by James Simpson, an employment 

specialist, who outlined some of the legal issues concerned 

with the legal status of consultants on how to avoid the 

Inland Revenue viewing the consultant as an employee; 

this has financial implications for both the client and the 

consultant. 

The final talk was from Dr Peter Hotten, who has much 

experience in technology transfer and new company 

formation.’ Peter was a director of Oxford Gene Technology 

(OGT) for six years, a successful Oxford spin-out in the life 

sciences. Peter left OGT after successfully defending their 

patent portfolio against their American rivals, and has now 

embarked on the journey of an independent consultant. 

Again, Peter gave a highly entertaining presentation on his 

experiences and the opportunities he sees going forward. 

The day was an enjoyable event with excellent speaker 

contributions, and located at Oxford’s finest business park 

for the incubation of technology companies. 

Thank you to all those involved. 

contact 

Dr Roger Welch 

Project Manager, Isis Enterprise 

T +44 (0)1865 280854 

E roger.welch@isis.ox.ac.uk 


22

Carbon Trust 

Isis Enterprise Incubator Services 

Isis Enterprise can provide funded 

business support to entrepreneurs, 

early-stage companies and SMEs 

with technologies that promise to 

significantly reduce CO 2 

emissions 

whilst delivering commercial returns. 

Successful applicants benefit from 

skills and expertise built up over many 

years at the University of Oxford, in 

taking cutting-edge technology and 

building successful companies. Since 

1997 Isis has executed more than 350 

technology-licensing agreements, and 

assisted in the creation of 59 spin-out 

companies. These companies have 

gone on to raise £334m in investment 

and 6 are now publicly listed on Stock 

Exchanges. 

Who should apply for Carbon Trust 

Incubator support? 

Entrepreneurs in university or corporate 

spin-outs, and other early-stage 

companies with innovative, commercially 

viable, environmental technologies. 

Applicants must be in a position 

to take full advantage of up to 18 

months of intensive business support. 

Our services 

Assessment of technical and 

commercial viability 

Market and related clean-energy 

sector research 

Guidance towards an Intellectual 

Property strategy 

Development of targeted business 

skills 

Structured preparation of an 

investor-ready business plan 

Identification of potential investors 

and customers 

How to apply? 

The selection process to receive support 

from the Carbon Trust incubator is 

competitive, and requires commitment 

and preparation. After an initial 

assessment of each applicant’s case, 

the incubator team will work with those 

short listed on a final submission to the 

Carbon Trust evaluation panel, who will 

then make the decision to approve the 

required support. 

Companies or individuals interested 

in receiving support from the Carbon 

Trust and Isis Enterprise should contact 

Isis Enterprise 

Hands-on business support and 

coaching can be of real assistance to a 

company during business planning and 

fund raising, to maximise the chances 

of success and of delivering full 

commercial potential to shareholders. 

Isis can provide selected entrepreneurs 

and companies with a wide range 

of technical and business consultancy 

services: 

contact 

Dr Mark Mawhinney 

General Manager 

T +44 (0)1865 280902 

E mark.mawhinney@isis.ox.ac.uk 


23

an intelligent partnership 

Providers of innovative banking, legal, accountancy 

and business advisory solutions for technology 

based businesses in Oxford and beyond. 

For further information on how our services can help you contact: 

Andrew Davies Simon Smith Sue Staunton 

Corporate Technology Manager Partner - Biotechnology team Partner - Technology group 

Barclays Bank Blake Lapthorn Tarlo Lyons James Cowper 

T: 07775 548803 T: 01865 253284 T: 01865 200500 

E: andrew.j.davies@barclayscorporate.com E: simon.smith@bllaw.co.uk E: sstaunton@jamescowper.co.uk 

Meetings 

Forthcoming meetings of the 

Oxford Innovation Society 

will be held on the following dates: 

Thursday 25 September 2008 

Thursday 11 December 2008 

Thursday 26 March 2009 

Meetings are held in Oxford for OIS Members and invited guests, and are followed by a formal reception 

and dinner in an Oxford college hall. For information about the OIS contact Cynthia Warmington, 

Marketing Administrator on: T +44 (0)1865 280837 E cynthia.warmington@isis.ox.ac.uk 

Published by Isis Innovation Ltd The Technology Transfer Company of the University of Oxford 

Isis Innovation Limited, Ewert House, Ewert Place, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7SG 

T +44 (0)1865 280830 F +44 (0)1865 280831 E innovation@isis.ox.ac.uk www.isis-innovation.com 

Design: Franks and Franks Cover illustration: Jack Noel / Franks and Franks Page 3: Martin Ota, MRC laboratories, Fajara Pages 4, 6 and 8: Photovibe 

Paper: 70% FSC certified recycled fibre from sources with sustainable forest development policies

Edition 54 of Isis News - Isis Innovation

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