DCU’s technologies to be marketed globally by Arizona Technology Enterprises

Richard Stokes, CEO of INVENT

Dublin City University’s technologies are to be marketed to a network of US investors and companies following the signing of a collaborative agreement between DCU and Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE).

The transfer of knowledge into the market place is a strategic objective of DCU which has already established strong partnerships with Irish and international industry through its research in biopharma, sensor and adaptive information technologies.

In this new venture, DCU’s commercialisation company, INVENT DCU will collaborate directly with AzTE, Arizona State University’s technology venturing arm, to bring scientific innovations to the market.

According to Richard Stokes, CEO of INVENT, “this new collaboration will allow DCU to draw on the legal and business development resources in AzTE and to identify complementary sensor technologies from ASU. We hope to ‘bundle’ technologies from both sides for possible licensing in North America. Invent will manage the intellectual property arrangements on behalf of DCU”. He also commented that “Irish start-up companies associated with Invent will have the possibility to access the impressive business development resources and extensive advisory network at AzTe’s recently opened flagship €300m+ business centre ‘Skysong’ located in Scottsdale, Arizona”

Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of DCU said that the collaboration with AzTE was a radical venture which would be of benefit not just to the two universities involved but to the global community. “DCU carries out cutting-edge research in the area of sensor research and in the development of pharmaceutical and health-care products.

However, investors and entrepreneurs are playing a major role in commercialising this knowledge and converting it into products and services”, he said.

DCU currently receives significant support from the Irish government (CSET), SFI and IDA for a number of its national research centres, one of which, the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI) is developing next-generation, self-diagnostic devices to provide early warning of illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease through analysis of disease-related molecules in blood, saliva or breath. Some of this research will ultimately be commercialised through Irish start-up companies and licenses to Irish industry as well as through the international partners who are members of BDI.