APPENDIX 8
Memorandum from the Medical Research Council
Trade Union Side
PROMOTION OF COLLABORATIVE WORKING BETWEEN
RESEARCHERS AND PARTNERS IN INDUSTRY, INCLUDING IN THE CREATIVE
INDUSTRIES AND IN SMES
As a research body, one of MRC's strengths is
its very pro-active stance on the identification, protection and
exploitation of intellectual property developed in its institutes
and units. It encourages its scientists to be involved in a wide
variety of interactions including PhD sponsorships and consultancies.
MRC facilitates researchers' involvement in
start-up and SME companies, both "MRC" companies based
on MRC IP and non MRC companies, by permitting personal consultancies
to be held by its staff.
MRC has or is negotiating partnerships with
Wellcome and CRUK/CRT.
Training to Career development fellows includes
presentations from MRCT and local Technology Transfer Staff.
MRC seeks to capture all visitor developed IP,
where appropriate, thus ensuring security of all IP developed
in house.
We believe that these commitments place MRC
at the forefront of collaborative working, ahead of Universities.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
AND COMMUNICATION
MRC is making substantial progress in its interactions
with other bodies and public. Information about MRC interactions
in available on the MRC website at www.mrc.ac.uk, for example
a brief description of activities is given its document.
Key Facts 2005 (www.mrc.ac.uk/pdf-mrc—key—facts.pdf
RESULTS AND
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
The Medical Research Council's policy is to
seek to own and control all such intellectual property developed
by its employees and visitors to its premises and where appropriate
to exploit this commercially by the most appropriate route. To
this end the MRC has its own group of technology transfer experts
in the form of "MRC Technology" a company affiliated
to MRC with charitable status (see http://www.mrctechnology.org/).
The MRC's record in commercial exploitation through MRC Technology
is outstanding. This has been achieved through investment in a
formerly in-house technology transfer capability now operating
as MRC Technology. MRC start-ups continue to flourish and many
are well know in the biotechnology sector. These, and the setting
up of the UK Medical Ventures Fund/MVM Ltd, with substantial initial
venture capital raised externally from the private sector, on
the strength of MRC's scientific reputation, are models of best
practice recognised in the National Audit Office Report on "Delivering
the Commercialisation of Public Sector Science" in 2002,
indeed incomes derived from exploitation in 2003 were comparable
to those received by the entire UK University sector (UK Universities:
£17.12, MRC: £14.18 in 2003 source UNICO Survey 2003)
and have continued to grow.
This has resulted in significant incomes to
the Commercial Fund enabling MRC to fully resource a new MRCT
initiative, the drug discovery group, to take advantage of the
MRC's cutting edge biology and generate potent lead compounds
for progression to novel drug candidates and attract an excellent
calibre of staff.
As a funding body, MRC grants terms and conditions
allow recipients of its grants to own and manage the IP arising
from MRC funded projects. This allows recipient institutions the
fullest freedom to manage and exploit their own portfolios of
IP.
There is Regional Centre expertise/contact points
in addition to MRCT IP staff. In major centres this expertise
is embodied in Contracts Managers and other senior administrative
staff who work closely with MRCT colleagues. A recognised weakness
is the lack of ongoing training for few regional/unit based administrative
staff (2/3) compared with similar posts in the university sector,
for example. This could be addressed and co-ordinated with MRCT,
through AURIS.
As an incentive to MRC scientists and units,
and to encourage their maximum involvement in the exploitation
process, the MRC operates the Awards to Inventors Scheme (ATI).
In principle the idea of the scheme is to reward, financially,
those involved in the development of a commercially viable technology.
Payments are based on gross income not net on a sliding scale
based on income and Directors have discretion in how inventors
shares are distributed but can include "contributors"
and not just those named on patents.
CO -ORDINATION
BETWEEN COUNCILS
AND RCUK
MRC has well established policy and mechanisms
for effective knowledge transfer, in which it has been highly
successful. The management of these needs to be direct and reflect
the needs of the groups concerned and while better communication
between RCs is always desirable, such efforts should not undermine
or delay individual RC's from working in the best possible way
for their business.
February 2006
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