New University Agreement

RNS Number : 3083H

Frontier IP Group plc

26 May 2011

 



AIM: FIPP

Frontier IP Group Plc

("Frontier IP" or "the Company")

IP Commercialisation Relationship with University of Plymouth

Frontier IP (AIM: FIPP), which specialises in the commercialisation of university intellectual property ("IP"), is pleased to announce that it has been selected as the University of Plymouth's ("the University") IP commercialisation strategic partner following a competitive tender process. The Company has entered into a 10-year IP commercialisation agreement with the University, with a mutual option to extend for a further 10 years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Frontier IP will assist the University in the commercialisation of its IP across all faculties. In return for its advisory services, Frontier IP will receive a share of the income from all new licences and a percentage of the equity in each new spin-out company.  The University of Plymouth is Frontier IP's third university partner, in addition to the University of Dundee and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

The University of Plymouth is ranked as one of the top 50 research universities in the UK and 80 per cent. of its research has been judged "of international repute" *.  In particular, the University has a world-class reputation for its research in marine sciences (operating Europe's largest marine institute), medical sciences, computer science and informatics and environmental sciences. It has a well established reputation for fostering innovation and has sought to build strong links between its research activities and industry. An early focus for Frontier IP will be the University's plans for a Centre for Translational Bio-Medicine.

Neil Crabb, Frontier IP's Executive Chairman, commented,

"We are delighted to have signed this agreement with the University of Plymouth. The University has a reputation for excellence in its research and we believe that there are exciting opportunities to aid the commercial development of some very interesting research projects."

Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth said,

"We are delighted to be working with Frontier IP who bring us additional expertise in commercialising intellectual property and access to funding.  This strategic relationship will help us to harness fully our ability to commercialise our knowledge base and it will have a major impact on our partnership-led approach to grow the knowledge economy in the region and create jobs."

*according to the latest Research Assessment Exercise (published in 2008 and conducted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Scottish Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland)

For further information please contact:

Frontier IP Group Plc Neil Crabb, Executive Chairman	T: 0131 220 9491
Arbuthnot Securities Limited Tom Griffiths Ed Groome	T: 020 7012 2000
Biddicks Katie Tzouliadis Sophie Lane	T: 020 3178 6378

About Frontier IP Group plc

www.frontierip.co.uk

Frontier IP specialises in the commercialisation of the intellectual property developed by universities and research institutions. It establishes partnerships with individual universities and research institutions to assist with their spin-out and licensing activities, and helps maximise the commercial value of technologies emerging from their research programmes.  Frontier IP is traded on the AIM market.

About the University of Plymouth

www.plymouth.ac.uk

The University of Plymouth is ranked as one of the top modern universities in the UK, with a strong record of excellence, enterprise and innovation across its teaching and research activities.

With around 30,000 students in total, the University is also one of the largest in the UK. It is ranked in the top 50 research universities in the UK (Source: Research Fortnight league tables) and has four government-funded Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, the maximum awarded to any single institution in the UK. The results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 showed the majority of areas submitted by the University included world-leading research, achieving the highest rating possible, scoring 4 stars. Overall, 80% of the research was judged as being of international repute.

 

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