Deploying rapid interventions to COVID-19
In our first Global Challenge campaign, we aim to mobilize the academic-industry to develop research, innovation & technology to address the spread of COVID-19 in 2020.
With a third of the world in lock-down, the identity of those in our society playing a pivotal role has never been so stark, from healthcare professionals and the all-important people making hospitals tick; to staff in shops where we can buy food, and indeed, farmers and those enabling their shelves to be stocked.
Much of the world’s population is reprioritizing the value of the workforce, and how inconsequential many everyday “necessities” now seem. Of all disciplines and vocations reappraised, scientific researchers are in the spotlight, elevated, as they develop tools to protect humanity and tackle COVID-19 directly.
I started Inpart (then IN-PART) while working as a postdoctoral Immunologist, with my close friend Patrick Speedie due to our shared vision of wanting to see more outputs from university research becoming real-world solutions. Over the past 6 years, we’ve been proud to facilitate many connections (over 7000 in fact) between research institutions and companies capable of translating research into impactful innovations, and now the connection between the two worlds of academia and industry has never been so crucial.
We have seen a rallying response against COVID-19 by technology transfer offices around the globe, a testament to which is more than 110 new technology briefs relating to COVID-19 which have been submitted to Inpart in the past 4 weeks, ready for partnering.
The influx of new technology from universities in our network and the appetite of companies reviewing them and actioning partnering requests has been staggering, and in just 4 weeks, 25 partnerships have been established between academia and industry via our system to combat COVID-19.
Human ingenuity will triumph, as it has done before, and it stirs many to think of what mankind can achieve when united by a common goal. Alongside many others across different sectors playing a role in this crisis, our continuing part will be to help ensure research reaches people capable of creating solutions.
Written by Robin Knight, 2020
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