The University of Oxford has acquired a world-wide reputation for commercial achievements, with a continually growing number of spin-out companies being established based on research by IBME faculty.
Twenty-six companies have been spun out since 2008 and some examples of these are listed below.
Some recent spin-out companies are in various stages of formation. If you are looking to invest in new technology companies, you can find our technology investment opportunities by visiting Oxford University Innovation website. Oxford University Innovation is the research and technology commercialisation company of the University of Oxford.
Amber Therapeutics was founded by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, translational neuroengineers, medtech industry professionals and experienced entrepreneurs focused on developing transformational therapy innovation for major unmet medical conditions.
Our first therapy – Amber-UI – is in clinical development with the aim of becoming the first fully implantable closed-loop bioelectrical therapy for both urge and mixed urinary incontinence (UI).
The Company was spun out from device work in Professor Denison’s lab at the University of Oxford in 2021 with funding from Oxford Science Enterprises, 8VC and a UKRI Biomedical Catalyst grant.
OrganOx Limited was established to improve both the quality and quantity of organs for transplantation. It is developing a device for sustaining organs outside the body using blood at normal body temperatures, which was invented by academic founders Prof Peter Friend, a leading transplant surgeon, and Prof Constantin Coussios, a biomedical engineer. Over 6000 livers are discarded worldwide each year because of limitations of current cold storage technologies. The OrganOx technology allows livers to be preserved for 24 hours, twice as long currently possible, in a functioning state outside the body. This could enable organs currently deemed unsuitable for transplantation, to recover to an acceptable standard for transplant.
Intelligent Ultrasound develops software that significantly improves the quality, reliability and diagnostic power of medical ultrasound scans. Some of the technology is based on research from Professor Alison Noble’s group.
The company’s products are designed to make ultrasound easier to use and help hospitals to provide a consistently high-quality ultrasound imaging service that minimises the risk of wrong or missed diagnoses.
Oxehealth gives carers and custodians more time for hands on care where and when it’s needed most. It is an assistant for when you can’t be there, paying attention to every room.
The software as a service solution generates the alerts and reports carers and custodians need, seamlessly slotted into their existing workflow. It is currently provided to police, mental health, acute hospital, care home and home care customers.
Spun out from Professor Tarassenko’s group at the IBME, Oxehealth’s technology can monitor human activity and behaviour (available now) & vital signs (proven in research deployments, going through medical device certification, not yet placed on the market) using proprietary algorithms which harness deep learning, computer vision and signal processing techniques.
OxSonics mission is to provide economic and scalable life-changing treatments to solid tumour cancer patients.
OxSonics’ drug delivery platform, SonoTran, has the capability to overcome one of the greatest limitations facing solid tumour cancer therapy: delivering drugs throughout tumour volumes including to those areas that lie farthest from blood vessels.
Orthoson originally spun out of the IBME based on research carried out by Professors Constantin Coussios, Prof. Robin Cleveland, Dr Delphine Elbes and Dr Olga Boubriak. Orthoson is developing a revolutionary bio-structural gel implant platform technology, intended not only to restore motion segment mechanics and alleviate pain, but also to create a biologically supportive scaffold for sustainable recovery. Its first product targets back pain due to a degenerated intervertebral disc and consists of an injectable in-situ curing hydrogel implant to provide a disruptively cost-effective alternative to current surgical options.
Oxford MEStar is a rapidly grown, energetic company specializing in translational and regenerative medicine.
With our core technical expertise in bioprocessing, bioengineering and bio-manufacture, we have developed enabling technologies for tissue engineering and stem cell therapy. Also, we are able to reach an extensive network of investors, bio-tech businesses, GMP manufacturing facilities, and marketing and distribution channels in China. It constitutes one of the unique strengths of Oxford MEStar, which allows us to quickly respond to market demand and offer practical solutions to our clients for their products’ improvement. Combining our technical expertise and our ease of access to the market, we are actively seeking opportunities for technology transfer between the UK and China.
Working to prevent brain haemorrhage by curing brain aneurysms, a condition that affects 1 in 50 persons, Oxford Endovascular was set up in 2016. Their device is a novel, next-generation flow-diverter that diverts blood flow away from intracranial aneurysms at risk of rupture. It places more accurately and safely than existing devices, reducing the risk of complications. It also conforms better to blood vessels making more patients treatable.
Ground Truth Labs was established in 2019 to work to improve disease diagnosis through digital pathology. Providing analysis and other tools for histology research to manage and build cohorts with remote teams; it annotates whole slide images and provides access to on-demand, high-quality predictive models.
Based on research by Professors Zhanfeng Cui and Wei Huang, OxSed developed a highly accurate Covid-19 testing platform that provides a scalable and low-cost test that can be performed anywhere and deliver results in 15-30 minutes. The has test achieved regulatory approvals with MHRA in the UK and the CE Mark in the EU. OxSed – which was formed as a social venture company – has been acquired by Hong Kong based Prenetics Limited.
Professors Zhanfeng Cui and Wei Huang spun out Oxford Simcell in 2020. It develops simple cells or ‘SimCells’ as a new platform for synthetic biology. SimCells act as artificial cellular machines that are easily modified and engineered to perform a variety of functions. By combining cells’ original biomolecular machinery with synthetic genomes (gene-circuits), SimCells can act as agents for drug delivery, biomanufacturing, and biosensors.
OxVent is a joint-venture social enterprise between Oxford University and King’s College London. Academic engineers and medics at both universities developed an award-winning rapidly deployable and scalable low-cost mechanical ventilator specially designed for treating Covid-19 patients in 2020. The product fills the gap between expensive, complex commercial systems and basic open-loop systems that lack sensors, feedback control or alarms. It provides the necessary level of performance for an emergency ventilator whilst remaining a scalable and affordable solution.
RegMetrics Ltd is a spin-out company from the Natural Interaction Lab (NIL) at the University of Oxford. It develops digital solutions supporting innovators to navigate the regulations. The online platform makes it quicker and easier to understand medical device regulations using the latest data driven technologies.
