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Life-Science Foundation: Non-scientific Services for Scientists
Be honest – do you know, how Ascenion’s parent holding, the Life-Science Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Research, is doing? Or what its purpose exactly is? We spoke to Wilhelm Wolf, Director of the Life Science Foundation about the foundation’s development and goals.
The foundation was set-up in August 2001. What was its goal?
Wolf: Our idea was to provide scientists with access to knowledge, expertise and services they urgently need, but usually don’t get in the academic world. Professional IP consultancy, for instance, as a prerequisite to turning promising findings into valuable products. About 8 years ago, most research institutions had a lot of catching up to do in this respect.
Is it not better to build these resources directly at the institutions?
Wolf: If we want to make a difference in technology transfer, we need top-level services, delivered by teams with dedicated expertise and substantial experience. For a single institution, it would be hard to build such resources and use them to an appropriate degree. In addition, we want to offer a defined point of access to industry. We therefore established Ascenion as a central service unit for IP asset management, open to all public institutes, medical schools and universities with significant life-science activities. It is not mandatory to participate in the Life-Science Foundation for accessing these services.
Who pays for these services?
Wolf: The research institutions themselves. Many of them, however, receive initial funding for their technology transfer-related investments from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Ascenion is reimbursed by its clients on a fee-for-service basis for scouting, evaluation, coaching and educational activities plus performance-related success fees when it comes to commercialization.
Who receives the returns from commercialization?
Wolf: This was another important goal for us in setting up the foundation: Revenues from the commercialization of IP should be made available for research without the typical public budgeting constraints. In the case of licensing agreements, this is straightforward: Although Ascenion takes over marketing and negotiations, each institution remains the owner of its IP and is the contracting partner to industry. The licensing fees are therefore paid directly to the institution. In the case of spin-outs, Ascenion usually holds and manages equity on behalf of its client institution. When Ascenion sells its shares, the returns go to the Life-Science Foundation, which forwards them to appropriate research projects in a non-bureaucratic and tax-free way. The major portion certainly flows back to those institutions from which the spin-outs originated.
What if Ascenion attains a surplus from its activities?
Wolf: Ascenion has turned in a profit each year since 2003. So far, Ascenion has forwarded a total of EUR 4.8 million to the foundation. About 20% thereof come from Ascenion’s operational profits, the rest from spin-off exits. The foundation board decides on the use of these funds and allocates them to projects at participating research institutions.
Can you provide examples for projects supported by the foundation?
Wolf: An example is the development of adoptive immunotherapies, a project of the Helmholtz Zentrum München, which runs over a period of 5 years with a total volume of about EUR 930,000. In general, the volumes, timeframes and themes of the projects vary immensely, depending on the needs of the institutions and the contribution they made to the profits realized by Ascenion.
What about the foundation’s long-term perspective. Do you intend to manage extensive funds some day, as most research foundations do?
Wolf: No, we clearly stand apart from the common “foundation model” providing financial support to scientists. Our asset is the knowledge and expertise of our teams. We offer complementary services to improve the working environment of scientists and help translate their results into products that contribute to social and economic progress. Besides IP asset management, we will also address the field of human resources. That is why we have recently co-founded Kepos, a company that focuses on personnel services in life-science research.
The Life-Science Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Research
Directors: Wilhelm Wolf, previously Chief Financial Officer of the Helmholtz Zentrum München and
Nicolaus Steenken, Managing Partner METRUM Managementberatung GmbH, previously Principal of Roland Berger & Partner
Participating Institutions: overall 6 institutions, 4 of the Helmholtz Association, 2 of the Leibniz Association
Payouts* from Ascenion profits since 2003: EUR 4.8 million
Supported projects since foundation: 16
Overall project volume so far: EUR 3.44 million
*Proceeds from the sale of equity (main portion) + partial operational profits of Ascenion
