UoB has always been a home to exciting innovations. A university of firsts. But developing a ‘blue sky’ idea into a commercial prospect is no easy task.
Salinity Solutions was founded in 2021 to commercialise a technology hailed as the most significant breakthrough in water treatment in 50 years.
University start-ups and spin-outs have become big business, which is having a hugely positive impact on the economy both at regional and national levels. University 鶹ѡ is proud to nurture the type of innovations that can only originate from a university dedicated to research that is purposeful, pragmatic and pioneering. And far from a quick-fix “I’m in” product-to-market Dragon’s Den approach, the process of developing and delivering innovations with real-world application has been 125 years in the making.
The “City of a Thousand Trades” is a nickname that has come to represent a city which, during the Industrial Revolution, established itself as a major centre for industry and innovation. Formed as a civic university 125 years ago, the building of the University 鶹ѡ crystallised this innovative spirit, tapping into and building upon the foundations set by the city’s talented tradespeople, and finding ways to advance the passion and potential held within the region.
While the city's industrial base has evolved, the University 鶹ѡ continues to honour its civic commitment to drive progress via research that is purposeful, pragmatic and pioneering.
There are certain types of innovations that only come from a research-intensive university like the University 鶹ѡ, where academics are on an unrestricted search for ideas that will change lives, yielding breakthroughs in areas like quantum computing or metabolomics.
This provides the opportunity for commercialisation, and universities are making a huge economic impact. According to Russell Group, university commercialisation is a striking UK success story. UK universities are world-class in tech transfer. Their spin-out companies raised £1.66bn in equity funding in 2023, 9.54% of all equity funding raised by UK companies.
The University 鶹ѡ has built a proud legacy of innovation. It is where pacemakers and plastic heart valves were developed, where the first artificial vitamin (Vitamin C) was synthesised, and where the cavity magnetron was developed, leading to applications such as radar and the microwave oven. Allergy vaccines were pioneered, the key components of artificial blood were synthesised, and the first clinical trials of the contraceptive pill outside the US were carried out.
The right training, expertise and infrastructure is required to turn academic innovation into viable products, services and businesses, and University 鶹ѡ Enterprise is at the forefront of the work that drives commercialisation. This ambitious organisation provides comprehensive support from the earliest stages of innovation – which might be as long as a decade before any product is launched – by providing entrepreneurship training for researchers, protecting Intellectual Property, creating spin-outs and other business ventures, and providing incubation, growth support and facilities for spin-outs, start-ups and high technology companies that want to be close to the research base at the University.
Spin-outs are critical to the UK’s future economic growth, and our region, with its outstanding research facilities, has the capacity to become a leader in this space. Birmingham-born technologies can achieve global recognition, and we continue to contribute to initiatives that put the University at the forefront of entrepreneurial activity in the region.
Key infrastructure like the Birmingham Research Park, and The BioHub Birmingham® plays a vital role. Companies are drawn to the unique proposition of having state-of-the-art amenities in close proximity to the University researchers, and products have been launched as a result of such close working quarters. Businesses that start out in Birmingham Research Park, such as precision medicine company Nonacus, often remain in the region and become major employers, while Birmingham spin-outs such as Salinity Solutions, now based at Tyseley Energy Park, are poised for similar growth.
David Coleman, CEO, University 鶹ѡ Enterprise said: “Spin-outs are critical to the UK’s future economic growth, and our region, with its outstanding research facilities, has the capacity to become a leader in this space. Birmingham-born technologies can achieve global recognition, and we continue to contribute to initiatives that put the University at the forefront of entrepreneurial activity in the region.”
David Coleman, CEO, University 鶹ѡ Enterprise
Meeting the challenges posed by the pandemic required rapid mobilisation and focused research, and never was the interface between academic researchers and R&D specialists in industry more critical.
In early 2020, The Native Antigen Company, which was originally created in 2010 to capture knowhow and expertise embedded in another University 鶹ѡ spin-out, Hybrid Biosystems, was amongst the first companies in the world to make SARS-CoV-2 antigens commercially available for researchers developing diagnostics and vaccines. During the pandemic Birmingham researchers also ran genomic sequencing services to reveal new strains of the virus; worked with industry to develop a test detecting antibody response to Covid-19 infection in people with mild disease; and engineered a new formulation for a nasal spray that delivers a physical barrier to viral infection.
A number of hugely exciting University 鶹ѡ spin-out success stories are paving the way for the University and region’s commitment to commercialisation.
Spin-out 4D Medicine is commercialising a new class of materials – liquid resins that can be 3D printed into complex shapes to help our bodies recover from a wide range of medical conditions. The company is developing implantable devices for use in soft tissue repair and orthopaedic applications. And, as healing takes place, these materials are safely absorbed into the body and expelled via normal metabolic processes.
Salinity Solutions was founded in 2021 to commercialise a technology hailed as the most significant breakthrough in water treatment in 50 years. The innovation stems from over a decade of research driven by Professor Philip Davies. He redesigned and optimised a water purification process called Reverse Osmosis (RO), which pushes high-pressure water through a semi-permeable membrane to remove contaminants, and developed the first full-scale prototype of the portable, stand-alone system, which is now being commercialised by Salinity Solutions as HyBatchTM (Hybrid Batch RO).
Dr Ruchi Gupta
Dr Ruchi Gupta’s game-changing mouth-cancer detection lollipop is one of the newest innovations to come into the public eye. The lollipop-based diagnostic for mouth cancer will be made from a novel smart hydrogel. Diagnostics are new landscape for biogels, which until now have been used for drug delivery and tissue regeneration, and Dr Ruchi Gupta and colleagues aim to replace current painful, invasive, and time-consuming diagnostic procedures.
David Coleman says it’s time to work together to put the Midlands at the heart of the university spinout movement. He said: “Our focus is never solely on the University but on moving our region as a whole to the forefront of innovation, honouring those Industrial Revolution roots we’re so proud of in Birmingham. Collectively with other Midlands universities and stakeholders, we are hatching plans and ideas for how we could connect up the region much more closely, making it easier for our region’s innovators, entrepreneurs, spin-outs and other businesses to find the talent, expertise, facilities, spaces, and investments, that they need to set up and thrive.”
Associate Professor of Analytical Science
Staff profile for Dr Ruchi Gupta - School of Chemistry, University 鶹ѡ.
Professor of Water Technology
Staff profile for Professor Philip A. Davies, Professor of Water Technology at the University 鶹ѡ
