Lancaster Environment Centre

We have worked with many of LEC’s researcher’s to help them assess the commercial potential of inventions arising from their work and to form collaborative relationships with North West companies. For example, we assisted commercialisation of a unique crop protection technology with: a commercial strategy enabling development funding to be secured, a patent application and licensing support.

We are particularly interested in talking to people who have developed technologies or inventions where formation of a spinout company may be appropriate.

(L-R) Dr Jason Moore, Dr Mike Roberts,
Dr Nigel Paul, Dr Jane Taylor

A technology developed by Drs Jason Moore, Patricia Croft, Nigel Paul, Michael Roberts and Jane Taylor to protect crops against insect and other herbivorous pests was assigned during September to Plant Bioscience Ltd (PBL). PBL is a technology transfer company based in Norwich, which seeks other companies wishing to commercialise new technologies across the food, plant and microbial sciences. PBL draws technologies from Universities and Research Institutes both within the UK and internationally. Therefore, it has both a good understanding of who may be interested in particular technologies and is able to simultaneously offer customers licenses to other related technologies within its portfolio.

The technology involves the use of a Jasmonic Acid (a key signalling molecule in plant defence), applied as a seed treatment to protect crops such as tomato, sweet pepper, wheat and maize against pests including spider mite, caterpillars and aphids. Although the use of jasmonic acid (JA) foliar spays has been known to protect plants against such pests for some time, its application as a seed treatment, which then protects subsequent plants is novel and forms the basis of the invention, which was patented during 2006. This enables JA to be applied in economically feasible amounts for the first time, to prime pest resistance over long periods, while overcoming issues such as phyotoxcity. JA is also naturally occurring, has a low toxicity and is rapidly broken down in the environment. Thus, if commercialised, the technology should be highly compatible with integrated pest management approaches.

The technology was developed with research funding from the NERC and during Jason Moore’s postdoctoral fellowship supported by both the Horticultural Development Council and Stockbridge Technology Centre. Subsequently, work with Enterprise and Business Partnerships enabled Follow-On Funding from the NERC and Intellectual Property Support from LU’s Research and Enterprise Services to be secured, to file the patent application. It was the strength of this application that has led to the deal with PBL. Most recently, the effort made by the inventors to progress the commercialisation of the technology was recognised by their award of one of LU’s 2007 Commercialisation Prizes.