Mobius Life Sciences “2012 UK Life Science Start-up Report” Released

6th February 2013

The 2012 UK Life Science Start-up report is prepared from seven years of data on the creation and funding of life science companies. The authors observe that, “Academic spin-out activity has become more and more focused in a few, leading universities as many increasingly lack confidence in the spin-out model of technology transfer or the resources to implement it effectively”.

Also included is a comment about the number of university spin-outs in all sectors. “The move by universities away from spin-out creation is manifest in a 19% decline in the university spin-out population in 2007-11 compared to 2005-09. This isn’t simply related to life sciences as there was a 15% decline in all university spin-outs in 2011 compared to 2010.

Universities are no longer driven by the numbers game that resulted from some government imposed metrics and are more circumspect when it comes to determining whether to spin-out or license a technology. Too many universities jumped onto the spin-out bandwagon around the early years of this century without the wherewithal to necessarily produce good quality businesses. Consequently many were burnt when their spin-outs failed to take off or deliver any returns.”

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