Translation changes

5 January 2003
Following a review of the Trust's translation activities, the Wellcome Trust is reinforcing its commitment to translation by integrating the activities of subsidiary, Catalyst BioMedica Ltd, into the main body of the Trust. This will create a new division whose primary objective is to translate biomedical research into tangible health benefits through support for applied research that has commercial potential. This move is seen as a critical step in the Trust achieving its mission of improving human and animal health.

Over the past four years, Catalyst has secured many successes in relation to Trust intellectual property, concluding more than 60 licence agreements, and supporting 30 Development Fund projects that have let to more than a dozen new start-up companies. This new division will build on the progress made by Catalyst in achieving the Trust's translation goals. Its major aims will now be to maximize the number of early-stage projects funded to a successful commercial exit, provide a high-quality technology transfer service to the Trust, and work to enhance the level of biomedical translation capability in the areas of Trust support generally.

It will take a number of months for the new division to become fully operational, and further details will be made available in coming editions of Wellcome News. In the meantime it is business as usual at Catalyst, which will continue receiving applications and making awards from its Development Fund, and supporting its existing award holders.