BioInnovation Institute welcomes the IP consultancy company Zacco Denmark A/S as a corporate partner adding value to the package offered to start-ups in the Business Acceleration Academy program and the Creation House program.
“Many of the start-ups we fund are spin-outs from the Danish Universities that come with both very strong science and commercial potential. The process of obtaining IP is crucial when developing a company and in many cases, the process requires expertise and strategic guidance from IP consultants”, explains Christian Brix Tillegreen, Senior Business Developer at BioInnovation Institute.
The partnership with Zacco Denmark A/S results in an offer of basic IP consultancy for all start-ups in the two programs free of charge, and Zacco Denmark will be on-site at BioInnovation Institute every week to be in close reach of the start-ups.
Experienced consultants
Niels Abrahamsen, Partner, Patent Attorney and Team Manager in Zacco Denmark, will together with experienced attorneys from his team be advising the BII start-ups and he has already worked with amongst other InProTher, Mycropt, TresActio, Bainan Biotech and Octarine who are or have been part of BII’s programs.
Niels has +15 years of experience in the IP area and joined Zacco in 2012. Prior to that, he worked with IP at Lundbeck, Genmab and Santaris Pharma. He holds a master’s and a Ph.D. degree in molecular biology and has technical experience within biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, human disease and molecular biology. He has published 10 scientific papers and is co-inventor on two patent applications as well as co-founder of miRana Therapeutic. We asked him some questions about Zacco’s involvement with the start-ups.
How do you work with the start-ups at BII?
We go through the start-ups’ business plans to understand what they work with and based on that we develop a check-list of things that are important to be in control of to attract investors. It is crucial for start-ups to be on top of their IP situation as well as to understand competition and which challenges they could be facing in the near or distant future regarding IP.
Why is IP a challenging area for start-ups?
IP matters are often very complex to sort out, and the process of doing so can be long. Consultants working with IP needs to be highly educated and specialized, and because of that clarification of the IP situation for a start-up company can be very costly. Start-ups are often caught in a situation where an investor wants to have the IP secured before they get involved, however, the start-ups don’t always have money to pay for preparation of patent applications or for complex analysis of other IP issues. Through the BII programs, the start-ups are helped in these early phases.
What do you typically experience when working with early-stage life science companies?
It is very different from start-up to start-up, but I have often seen that founders are surprised to see the amount of third party patent rights on file in their area of interest. Many scientists around the world are simultaneously trying to solve the same issues so it can be overwhelming to see 500 patent applications in your field and understand whether there is space for you to work in. There usually is a way and it is our job to help them find it.
Are you interested in joining the BII programs? Read more and apply.
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