The Innovation Suppport Unit (UAI) was created in June 2010 within the framework of the ITEMAS Network -currently called ITEMAS Platform- of the Carlos III Institute of Health. Since its creation, the UAI has contributed to promoting and protecting innovative/ground breaking research conducted by IdiPAZ. The UAI also intends to harness our center’s considerable innovative potential generated, as a step prior to its subsequent transfer to society.

Therefore, one of the main commitments of the Support Unit Innovation is that researchers and health personnel perceive it as a resource at their service, to provide support and advice in all that relates to the identification, management, protection, transfer, marketing and dissemination of their research results.

 

The main aim os the UAI is to identify the potential transferable research results generated within our centre and to accompany and support the researcher throughout the whole innovation process: from the birth of the idea to its placement on the market.

Since the UAI has been in operation, we have managed projects sponsored by the centre itself and have signed collaboration agreements with important private institutions and organisations to promote innovation.

Our main objectives are:

• Promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the institute by fostering the generation of innovative ideas and solutions that meet the needs of patients and society, in general, and supporting their development through various initiatives.

• Actively searching and identifying knowledge and research results emerged within the institute and transferable to the market.

• Fostering and managing the protection and transfer of knowledge and research results to society and promoting the current technology portfolio of the institute while getting an economic return which allows its reinvestment in research and development.

• Promoting the participation of industry in the innovation process acting as a stakeholder actively involved in it.

• Formalising business alliances, including technology companies as well as industrial and financial partners, to develop collaborative projects and to transfer the results to the market.

• Generating resources that achieve the greatest impact on society, enabling a better quality health care and at the same time contributing to the sustainability of the National Health System.

• Boosting a fruitful collaboration among all entities that make up the ITEMAS Platform.

In the last years the UAI has definitely consolidated its presence and visibility in the whole environment Hospital- Institute. Its impact in the Hospital has been strengthened by the creation of both the Innovation Platform and the Innovation Committee as two linked structures within the organisation. The Innovation Platform is an initiative launched from the Hospital’s Management Board in order to promote, extend, enhance and stimulate innovation throughout the Hospital. The main mission of the Innovation Platform is to build a culture of innovation among all Hospital and Institute staff. The Innovation Unit is integrated into this platform as its main driver and, as such, it establishes its objectives and marks its lines of action and will be responsible for channelling the entire workload. It also forms part of the Innovation Committee, a decisionmaking body on the ideas to be supported by FIBHULP.

Among the greatest achievements of the Innovation Support Unit are the following:

1. The UAI has become one of IdiPAZ’s most in-demand and requested platforms as it is responsible for promoting, supporting and managing all innovation projects.

At December 31 2016, the UAI had 164 innovation projects or ideas in active state, 28 of which were in the capture phase, 49 in the evaluation phase, 9 in development, 52 in transfer and 26 in the market. According to these data, it follows that 16% of the projects have been successfully exploited and positioned in the market, very positive percentage (although far lower than the aspired figure) given the precariousness of the times we go through and the resources (both human and financial) with which the UAI counts. Among the various types of projects handled by the UAI it is particularly noteworthy the volume of medical device-type projects, followed by projects such as “Bio”, “Health ICT” and “eHealth”. Although the UAI has more than six years of experience, most of the activity (134 projects) and its achievements have taken place in the last five years, period 2012-2016.

2. The UAI has built a wide and diverse technology portfolio. Each year the number of innovation projects managed by the UAI increases with respect to the previous year, also increasing the number of Hospital services, research groups and professionals in general who join IdiPAZ’s innovation community.

During the period 2012-2016, the UAI filed 23 priority patents (20 Spanish patents and 3 European patents) and 17 PCT; 5 national or regional phase entry applications were filed (2 before the EPO, 2 before USPTO and 1 before CIPO (Canadian Intellectual Property Office)) and 26 patents were granted (2 of them European patents).

UAI’s portfolio of patents in active state during period 2012-2016 reached the figure of 41 patent families and 1 utility model. As for the software, during the period 2012-2016 the UAI registered 13 new computer applications. Special mention should also be made to the UAI brand portfolio. During the period 2012-2016, 14 brands were requested and 14 were granted.

It is important to note that these brands, besides allowing IdiPAZ to distinguish its products or services from competitors’ products or services, are associated with the know-how of the institution, know-how that has been transferred along with the distinctive sign in the case of the license agreements signed by the institution in respect of trademarks.
 

3. The UAI has prepared a catalogue of technology offers -based on specification sheets- which includes the complete portfolio of exploitable IdiPAZ results. This catalogue aims to promote the transfer of IdiPAZ’s technology portfolio to the industrial sector, generate collaborative projects for technological development and foster the exploitation of research results. Those validated specification sheets are published on IdiPAZ’s website. The catalogue is updated as the Institute’s technology portfolio grows.

4. The UAI has been, is, and will continue to be the principal architect for the transfer and exploitation of IdiPAZ’s technology portfolio. During the period 2012- 2016 the UAI succeeded in signing 8 license agreements of intellectual property rights (copyright) and bringing 9 patents, 7 software, and 7 brands into commercial exploitation, which has meant a significant achievement in terms of economic return.

5. Thanks to UAI’s support and management it has been possible to create and consolidate the first technologybased company of the Hospital (and also of the region of Madrid) according to the regulations established by the Department of Health of the Community of Madrid.

The spin-off concerned, Biomedica Molecular Medicine, exploits the research results in oncology -specifically, a genomic test to determine whether breast cancer patients should have chemotherapy – designed by some members of IdiPAZ.
 

6. Through the promotion of a culture of innovation, the UAI has managed to create a large community of innovative professionals. Over the last year its promotional activity has consisted in the celebration of several working days, workshops, seminars, etc.:

• “Oportunidades de financiación del programa ERC para investigadores de institutos de investigación biomedical” Workshop, April 6 2016.
• “La compra pública innovadora en eHealth en el entorno sanitario” Workshop, June 3 2016.
• “La innovación es posible: IdiPAZ te ayuda a lograrlo” Workshop, July 12 2016.
• “Gestión de la Investigación FIBHULP-IdiPAZ” Workshop, December 13 2016 In addition, UAI has collaborated with important institutions and private entities to promote innovation, in particular it has participated in various forums and round tables organised by various stakeholders of the biomedical sector.

7. The UAI’s has succeeded in in creating a wide-ranging network of contacts. By virtue of its membership in the ITEMAS Platform, the Unit has continued to strengthen ties and creating synergies with the members of this Platform in order to achieve its established objectives.

Apart from the above results it is important to emphasize that several innovation projects managed by the Innovation Unit have been awarded with prestigious prizes over the last year:

• Award obtained in the first edition of the Healthstart Program by two of our innovation projects, in particular DILUBIO project, led by Dr Jesús Manuel Muñoz Caro, and PROTO:DEVICES project (High precision rectoscope) led by Dr Mario Álvarez Gallego (first prize and accesit respectively). Healthstart is the program of the Madrimasd Knowledge Foundation (Madri+d Foundation) and the Medical Technology Innovation Platform (ITEMAS Platform), promoted by the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) for the acceleration of technological start-ups of the Community of Madrid in the healthcare sector.
• Prize won by the app Vivir con EPOC -developed by IdiPAZ’s HEALTH CARE NURSES RESEARCH GROUP together with the company Navandu Technologies- in the first edition of the Andalusia Health Challenges initiative. This initiative was promoted by the Public Health Service of Andalusia (SSPA) in collaboration with the company Vodafone and aims to promote the development of mobile applications (or apps) that improve user adherence to the treatment of chronic diseases. This first ‘Challenge’ was directed, in particular, to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

This same app has been awarded with other prizes such as the 2017 SaluDigital Award organized by Grupo Mediforum, in the category of Best Health App.
 

Since its implementation, the UAI has been integrated into the organisational structure of FIBHULP, as one of the Support Platforms for IdiPAZ research.

The Innovation Unit is directed by Dr. Javier de Castro Carpeño, M.D. and Ph.D. in Medicine and a member of the Medical Oncology Department of the La Paz University Hospital/ Autonomous University of Madrid and of the Translational Oncology Unit of IdiPAZ.

The Innovation Unit also consists of a team of four experts in fostering innovation and protecting research results and technology transfer.

Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios - AEMP

Asociación de profesionales de transferencia, innovación y gestión de la investigación - Redtransfer

Federación Española de Empresas de Tecnología Sanitaria - Fenin

Fundación para el Conocimiento madri+d – madri+d

Fundación para la innovación y la prospectiva en salud en España - FIPSE

Oficina de Patentes y Marcas de Estados Unidos - USPTO

Oficina de Propiedad Intelectual de la Unión Europea - EUIPO

Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas - OEPM

Oficina Europea de Patentes - EPO

Plataforma de Innovación en Tecnologías Médicas y Sanitarias - ITEMAS

Plataforma Española de Innovación en Tecnología Sanitaria

 

• Medical equipment: surgery medical instruments for ophthalmology, cardiology, gynaecology, gastroenterology, paediatrics, angiology, etc.; products for prenatal and neonatal care, detectors for breathing difficulties, simulators, research instrumentation, linen for inpatients inclusive.
• Diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers and predictors of the response to treatment, as well as kits for their detection and quantification: biomarkers and kits to detect the risk of infection, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, colorectal cancer, etc.
• Biomaterials: for implant and prosthesis application (traumatology, orthopaedic surgery, odontology, etc.), tumour destruction, infections treatment, tissue regeneration, control release of therapeutic agents, etc.
• Computer programs: mobile Apps and software to titrate the administered dose for a patient, informatics tools to assist diagnosis, biomedical signals processing software, data recording tools, etc.
• Nutritional Supplements: functional foods, heart-healthy drinks, etc.
• Questionnaires to measure the Quality of Life, pharmaceutical compositions, etc.
• Methods using coaching and mindfulness to alleviate psychosocial impact in patients, as well as their family members and health workforce.