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£4m CASCADE fund for commercialising research – University of Reading

The University of Reading has joined with four other universities to launch a £4M investment fund, The Cascade Fund, to support academics seeking to commercialise the outcomes of their research. The Fund, which is shared between the Universities of Brunel, Reading, Royal Holloway, Surrey and Sussex, will stimulate entrepreneurial activity and provide financial and business assistance to academics working in those institutions on commercially viable projects. Academics applying to the Fund can expect a rigorous assessment of their technology by the Fund Manager, Generics Asset Management Ltd. Dr Phillip Carter, Fund Manager for Generics says "the Cascade Fund is very selective and will only invest in those projects with genuine commercial potential and those which are likely to yield a significant return on the investment". Cascade Case Study: Thrombosis Research The first award made by the Fund is to scientist Dr Jonathan Gibbins at the University of Reading, whose research has recently led to the discovery of new mechanisms that control blood clotting. It is possible that these discoveries may lead to the identification of new drugs or drug targets effective in the prevention of thrombosis (uncontrolled blood clotting). Thrombosis is a major killer in the UK, in 2000 over 175,000 people died as a result of the condition, more than of cancer (Source: Office for National Statistics). Whilst it can cause major health problems, blood clotting is an essential process; controlling bleeding and repairing injuries. The process is controlled by the reaction of blood cells called platelets, which aggregate at the site of an injury and form a clot; stopping bleeding. However clots sometimes form when there is no injury and these can block major blood vessels and stop the supply of blood to vital organs such as the brain and heart. The investment made by the Cascade Fund will enable Dr Gibbins to conduct a market research exercise to establish whether the exploitation of his discoveries in a drug development programme would be a viable prospect. Dr Gibbins commented "whilst it is still early days, Cascade is enabling us to explore the potential of our discoveries. It would be very exciting to see our basic cell biology research transferred into therapeutics". Note to Editors Generics Asset Management (GAML) GAML is the FSA-regulated investment management company of The Generics Group Ltd, managing and maintaining investment assets on behalf of both external investment funds and the Group. GAML invests in technology-based opportunities and aims to make investments in enterprises to which GAML or other parts of the Group can add significant value and reduce the inherent technology risk. Sometimes, these enterprises are spin-outs of concepts developed with Generics by its own employees. Web: (www.genericsgroup.com ). For more information editors should contact: Veronica Kay, Business Information Officer, University of Reading. Tel +44 (0)118 378 6161, Fax +44 (0)118 378 8979, Email v.kay@reading.ac.uk or Dawn Giesler, PR Manager, The Generics Group, Tel +44 (0) 1223 875200 Fax +44 (0) 1223 875201, Email dawn.giesler@genericsgroup.com