(NU/1433-33) GitLife Biotech: The Provision of Business Consultancy to Assist Commercialisation of University Research.

Tender description

Professor Krasnogor saw an opportunity in developing a solution to the “Integration” problem that is generic for biotechnology and the life sciences beyond the specifics of these two projects. This is how the idea of establishing GitLife Biotech and the development of the CellRepo technology, as a versioning control system for engineered cell lines, including biotechnology microorganisms, in the cloud was born. The plan is to spin out GitLife Biotech Ltd in Q3 2022. To be able to spin out and take forward this opportunity, securing the involvement of experienced and appropriate business leadership is both essential and complementary to the existing technical staff and resource. Commercial and business skills are needed in addition to those in the current team. Moreover, it is clearly the case that Prof. Krasnogor and the current team will need to remain focused on the scientific and technical aspects of the company and be able to place trust in and be guided by experienced staff (ide Lot 1: Newcastle, Sunderland, Northumbria, Durham, Teesside universities together with the University of Bath on behalf of the SETsquared Partnership (the Enterprise collaboration of the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey) and any other HE Institution that wishes to join this DPS, as detailed in the Office for Students Register, https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/the-register/the-ofs-register/ will engage suitably qualified and experienced executives through the DPS as and when required over the DPS period. The specific requirements will be detailed in each individual further competition. The typical brief of an executive will be to: (a) Produce a viable business plan; (b) Obtain university approval for the venture; (c) Act for the company in the spin-out legal process and address all company formation matters; (d) Provide to the appropriate university all matters necessary for Research England and ESIF reporting requirements; (e) Secure (venture capital and/or other) funding in accordance with the business plan. This will be a cyclical process throughout the entire Research England, and potential ESIF project along with any additional funding streams.