Research collaboration and development of intellectual property with the University of Southampton in the field of asthma and COPD

Abstract

The University of Southampton, one of the UK's top ten research universities, has an active enterprise agenda encompassing commercial licensing, spin-out creation, commercial research collaboration, consultancy and staff development. Southampton aims to be a recognised world leader in its interactions with industry while maintaining the ethos of a leading academic centre of research and teaching excellence. This paper explores the creation of and ongoing relationship between Southampton and Synairgen plc, a spin-out from the University founded on its expertise in the field of asthma and COPD, as a case study of the benefits and balances to be found between academic, enterprise and corporate agendas.