Dr Davidson Ateh and Prof Joanne Martin of Barts and The London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry along with Dr Laura Camurri of Queen Mary Innovation Ltd were today awarded first prize at the Business Plan Lite Competition organised by QM BioEnterprises for their plans to commercialise an innovative drug delivery technology. The £5,000 top prize was presented at the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for the new QM BioEnterprises Innovation Centre based in Whitechapel, London E1. The competition was funded by the European Regional Development Fund and was open to ideas based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Second prize was awarded to another Barts and The London based team led by Dr Paul Creeke for a service based business characterising neutralizing antibodies in patients.
Team leader Dr Ateh said: “We are totally delighted to receive this award! Whilst we have encouraging data under a Heptagon Fund proof-of-concept grant and just started a BBSRC Follow-on-Fund study to develop the technology further, we have also been thinking hard about the commercial prospects of the technology and how best to generate value and patient benefit. We very much look forward to putting our business plans to practice and make the technology a clinical reality.”