Bridge program to expand

The InnovationXchange's BRIDGE program is set to expand, as it moves toward the end of its one year pilot program. It plans new clusters in health, nanotechnology and medical devices, and has welcomed Resmed to its fold.

The unique business development program, the brainchild of former IBM Extreme Blue lab director Assoc Prof John Wolpert, places trusted intermediaries into companies and research institutes whose role is to confidentially catalogue capabilities and identify potential opportunities for solving problems and collaborating with partners.

"We need to find smarter ways to use both our inventions and our intentions," Wolpert told attendees at the BioMelbourne Network's monthly BioBreakfast.

"You can protect your inventions, your IP, but you can't share your intentions."

The program seeks to overcome this limitation by creating a 'cone of silence' in which ideas and opportunities can be confidentially evaluated and presented to the appropriate parties with no risk of unintended disclosure.

Current participants include Amrad, Biota, Starpharma, Acrux, Cytopia, Virax, the Walter and Elisa Hall Institute, IBM, Johnson & Johnson Research, Proctor & Gamble and the University of New South Wales.

Wolpert said early results of the program included nine opportunities that had been identified by the program's trusted intermediaries, of which three had gone on to result in signed engagements, with a further four at the negotiation stage. Another 20 investigations into potential opportunities were underway, he said.

WEHI business development manager Julian Clark said the InnovationXchange program allowed the institute, which brings in around $4 million annually in royalties, to plug in unconventional links and expand its business development opportunities.

And Acrux business development manager Tim Morgan said the program would expand opportunities for cross-fertilisation across industry sectors, giving companies like Acrux openings into new R&D collaborations and commercialisation deals.

The program, which has initially focused on the life sciences, is set to expand, with new clusters planned around medical devices, ICT/health and nanotechnology.

"We're pleased to announce that as of last week, ResMed has joined and we are now building a medical devices cluster to add to the life sciences cluster," Wolpert said.

While the clusters will focus on specific areas, opportunities between clusters as well as within clusters will be targeted. The new clusters are expected to be up and running by mid-year.