Development of Unitectra – Milestones

Unitectra celebrates its 20th anniverary. In this period Unitectra evaluated about 2000 invention disclosures resulting from research carried out at the Universities of Basel, Bern and Zurich. It filed patents for 1200 inventions and concluded about 1000 licenses. It also assisted in the foundation of more than 200 spin-off companies from the three universities. In addition, more than 100 products under a license from the three universities were launched on the market.

In the same period of time Unitectra negotiated research agreements for about 18'000 research projects with external collaboration partners. Under these agreements the outside partners invested over CHF 1.7 billion in cash in academic research.

Herbert Reutimann, CEO since the foundation, steps down as head of Unitectra. His successor is Adrian Sigrist, co-founder of Unitectra.

More than 70 products based on research of the Universities of Basel, Bern and Zurich are available on the market from various licensees. Not included in this figure are the numerous licensed research reagents (such as antibodies) available from various companies.

In the pharma/biotech sector 27 new molecular entities (NME's) currently are at various stages of clinical development for a variety of diseases by licensees or by the universities themselves. In addition, a wide range of products is under development by licensees in other sectors, such as medical devices.

Unitectra evaluated the 1000th invention disclosure since its inception. At the end of the year it manages about 500 patent families and more than 400 active licenses.

More than 1000 research collaboration agreements with outside partners are negotiated in 2013. Since Unitectra's start cash contributions for research at the universities from collaboration agreements negotiated by Unitectra amount to more 1 billion CHF.

Unitectra originally acts as the technology transfer organization between the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel. Unitectra establishes a new office at the University of Basel and increases its staff to 13 people.

Unitectra receives the prestigious "European Biotechnica Award 2011" for its "exceptional contribution to the initiation and promotion of cooperation between the publicly funded research community and business".

The number of transfer cases managed by Unitectra at the Universities of Bern and Zurich more than doubled since 2006 (to >1400 cases). For the first time Unitectra receives 100 invention disclosures in a year. The 400th license agreement is executed and the 500th patent application is filed since the creation of Unitectra. In addition, the patent portfolio includes more than 200 granted patents.

For the first time ever in a single year, Unitectra negotiates agreements for more than 1000 collaborative research projects with business partners for the researchers of the faculties supported by Unitectra at the Universities of Bern and Zurich. These agreements result in cash contributions for research at the universities of about 90 mio CHF.

Unitectra celebrates its 10th anniversary.

The technology transfer activities of the Universities of Bern and Zurich strongly increased in the past years. Unitectra manages 600 new transfer cases and negotiates contracts for about 600 research projects with business partners, 250 thereof in clinical research. The 200th license agreement is concluded and the 50th spin-off company of the Universities of Bern and Zurich assisted by Unitectra is founded since 1999. The Unitectra staff comprises of 10 employees in the meantime.

The 100th license agreement is executed. The number of research projects at the two universities with business partners has significantly increased since 1999. Unitectra negotiates agreements for more than 100 such joint research projects. In addition, Unitectra begins to manage agreements in the clinical research area based on a request by the University Hospitals of Bern and Zurich.

After completion of the SPP BioTech program, Unitectra focuses its activities on the two locations in Bern and Zurich.

The Universities of Bern and Zurich create a common technology transfer organization called Unitectra. As a non-profit corporation under Swiss law, Unitectra is completely owned by the Universities of Bern and Zurich. Originating from Biotectra, Unitectra takes over all of the latter's previous activities.

Publication of the second, revised edition of the Biotechnology Industry Guide Switzerland.

Quantitative data for the technology transfer at the Universities of Bern and Zurich in 1999: More than 130 cases; over 50 contracts, of which 14 are licensing agreements and over 20 are sponsored research agreements.

The predecessor organization Biotectra is founded at the beginning of 1996 by Herbert Reutimann und Adrian Sigrist in the context of the Swiss National Science Foundation's Priority Program Biotechnology (SPP BioTech).

Mission: Provide consulting and practical assistance to researchers connected to the SPP BioTech regarding technology transfer and contributing to the improvement of technology transfer in Switzerland, especially in the field of biotechnology/life sciences.

In the summer of 1997, the canton and the University of Zurich agree on Biotectra taking over the responsibility for technology transfer in the field of life sciences at the University of Zurich. In the summer of 1998, a similar arrangement with the University of Bern is reached, under which Biotectra manages selected technology transfer projects at the University of Bern.

Biotectra also produces various publications such as the "Swiss Biotechnology Industry Guide" (several editions) and different publications about the creation of spin-off companies and other topics in technology transfer. Based on a common initiative, the management of SPP BioTech and Biotectra promote the foundation of the Swiss Biotech Association (SBA).