BioWorld International Correspondent

LONDON - Shares in IP2IPO Group plc rose by 38 pence to £6.50 last week when the technology management company announced a 25-year deal to commercialize technology from Surrey University, bringing its number of university partners to seven.

Under the agreement, London-based IP2IPO will invest £5 million (US$8.7 million) in seed and early stage investments in companies spun out of Surrey, working in concert with the university’s technology transfer office to identify suitable opportunities. Alan Aubrey, CEO of IP2IPO, said the deal confirmed the company’s position as the leading intellectual property specialist in the UK. The two partners are working on a number of potential spinout companies already.

In December, IP2IPO announced a similar agreement with Bristol University, to add to partnerships with King’s College London, and Southampton, Oxford, Leeds and York Universities. Earlier this month, the company announced its first investment in a Bristol spinout, putting £500,000 into Revolymer Ltd., which is developing new polymers based on low cost, commodity polymers.

Although the terms vary from one university to another, the model of investing in seed and early stage funding is similar. The deals are exclusive in the sense that each university agrees only to enter into one such partnership, but do not preclude third parties taking licenses or spinning out companies.

In addition to its partnerships with universities, IP2IPO owns Modern Biosciences, set up to in-license intellectual property generated by medical researchers at UK universities and research institutions, for licensing to the pharmaceutical industry, or spinning into companies.

IP2IPO raised £30 million when it floated on the Alternative Investment Market in London in 2003. Five of its companies, Synairgen plc, VASTox plc, GETECH Group, Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc and Proximagen Neuroscience, have joined it on AIM, while nanotechnology company Toumaz Technology exited through a trade sale. Currently, IP2IPO has more than 20 companies in its portfolio.