For a long time, research from hospitals and universities that could be transformed into innovation in the healthcare environment often remained in the drawer and, in the best of cases, was applied in a reduced environment. In the last decade (from 2010 onwards), the emergence of ITEMAS (ISCIII – Instituto de Salud Carlos III platform) for the dynamization and innovation of the industrial capacities of the NHS (National Health Service) and their effective transfer to the productive sector, the OTRIs (technology transfer offices) from the universities or the UAIs (Innovation Support Units) from the hospitals, help to create an awareness among researchers that public-private collaboration is essential to ensure that this innovation is translated into products that reach the market and improve people’s quality of life. For projects to progress and reach the market, it is common knowledge that public funding is not enough and that, although it plays a fundamental role in the early stages and contributes to the maturity of the project, it is private funding that allows progress to be made in highly costly stages such as clinical validation. This funding can be obtained through different and diverse public-private collaborations ranging from collaboration agreements with companies in the sector (pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, etc.), co-development agreements, technology transfer agreements or the creation of spin-offs where private funding translates into the entry of investors who become shareholders of the company.
The creation of spin-offs or start-ups has gone from being an isolated event in the public environment to becoming an increasingly common vehicle for bringing innovation from these environments to the market. This has also been helped by the laws that have emerged to regulate the creation of start-ups, which provide certain facilities and tax benefits to attract entrepreneurs as well as potential investors. However, despite their regulation, there is still a long way to go because the current legal framework can be improved and because the creation of a start-up or a spin-off is an administrative, fiscal and legal labyrinth that produces a feeling of vertigo for a researcher who often knows little or nothing about health entrepreneurship.
The preparation of a business plan to assess the viability of the project is the first step, but this is followed by steps such as the licensing agreement with the university, the partners’ agreement, the closing of the first seed round, etc., which are a real ordeal. The existence of consultancy companies such as GENESIS Biomed smooth this path by accompanying the project team in this arduous work. GENESIS Biomed has helped to set up numerous start-ups and spin-offs and we are pleased to have contributed to the valuable knowledge we have in Universities and Hospitals materialising in companies that can facilitate innovation to improve people’s health. Moreover, for the research team it is a challenge, but also a reward when the fruit of their innovation translates into a tangible product that improves the lives of patients.
As we have already mentioned, GENESIS Biomed has collaborated in the creation of many start-ups and spin-offs and at the beginning of the year 2022 we would like to mention all of these that, thanks to courageous researchers/entrepreneurs, have been created during 2021 and at the beginning of 2022. Among them we can mention:
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