EIP held a successful seminar on the topic of managing IP from start-up to exit at London Business School on 2 June.
Partners Andrew Sharples and Paula Flutter, and senior associate Matthew Blaseby, presented a case study on a fictitious company Insulong, to an audience from London Business School’s Healthcare Club.
In the case study, Insulong was set up to commercially develop a modified version of insulin, which was developed initially by a university professor. The scenario showed how Insulong sought VC funding to take the development forward; developed a medical device for administering the modified insulin; licensed a compound from a third party to combine it with the modified insulin; and out-licensed the medical device to a third party.
Andrew, Paula and Matthew explained to the audience of students and alumni various intellectual property considerations a company such as Insulong would need to have, including due diligence, IP rights including patents, SPCs, know-how, trademarks and designs, effective IP strategy, and licensing, until the point where Insulong had built a portfolio of IP rights and was acquired by a big pharma.
Matthew Blaseby said: “The case study was a useful approach to take, and our aim of raising awareness of potential IP issues was well received by the audience. There were some interesting questions which built on the presentation, and feedback we received was that often people in business don’t know of a potential IP issue until it arises, by which point it might be later than is preferable to rectify.”
Daphne Chung, co-president of London Business School Healthcare Club, said: “EIP gave us a very clear and valuable insight into the issues and implications that healthcare entrepreneurs need to consider, with which the audience was very engaged.”