‘It’s a great motivator if your research can be life-changing in the real world’
Our university labs are bursting with cutting-edge research, but how do you commercialise these inventions and discoveries or translate them into outcomes that benefit society? Professor of biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin started a spin-off company with his team. ‘When it comes to valorisation or making impact, this is a really exciting thing to do.’
Hi Nathaniel, how did your research lead to a commercial spin-off?
‘One of the major themes of my group’s research is trying to discover and develop new antibiotics, but we have also created technologies that are relevant for the treatment of cardiometabolic disease and potentially cancer. In many cases this has led to patents being filed by the university. Once that happens, you start asking yourself: is this something that we can somehow commercialize? As researchers, we’re not only trying to address fundamental scientific questions, but also see if what we’re doing in our lab can make a difference in the real world. When it comes to developing medicine, the only way to do that is to explore if your work translates towards real-life drug development. In 2022 we founded a spin-off company called Cantoni Therapeutics. My role there is that of scientific advisor.’
'Once a patent has been filed, you start asking yourself: is this something that we can somehow commercialize?'
What do you see as the biggest challenges for researchers when starting a company?
‘When you’re a start-up developing new medicine, fundraising is the biggest challenge by far. You need a massive upfront investment, since it can take years of expenses before you even come close to selling something. For university spin-offs, a preferable scenario I think is therefore not to take a new technology all the way to the finish line, but to demonstrate the potential of what you’re working on at an earlier stage of the development process. That way, you could partner with an established company or be potentially acquired.’
What other advice can you give academics aiming to start a spin-off?
‘Find the right people to do it with. No one is an expert in everything, so make sure that you have a good complementary set of specializations and personalities within your team. Having access to the right expertise will help convince potential investors that your idea has value, and that you’ll know how to use their contributions appropriately. I’m glad to have people on my team with a lot of experience in working in the pharmaceutical industry.’
How do you strike a balance between scientific integrity and commercial goals?
‘Above all else, I’d say that it’s important to have open discussions with all members of your team, both from the commercial and academic side. That way, you can navigate these – not divergent, but perhaps slightly different – motivators. And at the end of the day, if something that you've done in your lab has the potential to be life-changing for people in the real world, that should be the biggest motivator one could have as a scientist. It's very hard to develop a new medicine. But when you talk about valorisation or making societal impact, it’s also a really exciting thing to do.’
What role does collaboration with valorisation offices, such as LURIS, play?
‘The way I see it, LURIS represents the university's interests when it comes to technology that needs to be licensed to a new spin-off company. Because we are university employees, the intellectual property that originated in my lab actually belongs to the university. So you’ll need a license agreement to ensure that the spin-off company has exclusivity to work with and try to commercialize that technology. I do think that our university has quite a supportive approach to its spin-off companies. The entity Libertatis Ergo Holding BV offers financial investment and support for a number of small spin-offs in the Leiden area. They are also the primary investor in Cantoni Therapeutics.’
'Make sure that you have a good complementary set of specializations and personalities within your team'
Do you retain ownership when starting a spin-off?
‘In my experience, the ownership is determined based on the people that are involved. The founders and investors will own the company, and share it, depending on the extent to which they're contributing to the operations. The university might also take a share, as part of the deal that is made for giving the spin-off exclusive rights to the technology.’
Lastly, does your team have any future spin-off plans in the pipeline?
‘There’s also potential for us to start a new spin-off this upcoming year based on research on a very active antibiotic. At present we're conducting studies that will give us a better indication of how the antibiotic distributes throughout the body. Based on the results of these studies, we’ll be able to say how well our antibiotic compares to others currently used in the clinic. For me it would be a huge feeling of accomplishment if something that was developed in our lab would eventually be tested in a person. Someday seeing a new medicine based on our work actually be used to treat patients, that’s got to be better than any publication or grant.’
Changes to guidelines on knowledge exploitation
New guidelines apply to knowledge exploitation at Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) with effect from 1 January 2025. These guidelines provide clarity on the protection and exploitation of research findings and intellectual property, among other things, including such issues as discoveries, patents, software and questionnaires.
More information and the full guidelines are available on the staff website. If you have any further questions, please contact LURIS.
Text: Evelien Flink