Research & Technology Development

RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

©Institut du Cerveau - ICM

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The ambition of the Institut du Cerveau – ICM is not only to perform high-level research, but especially to  participate in the development of new treatments capitalizing on the knowledge and competency of its researchers.

The team “Research & Technology Development”, composed of PhDs that have worked in industry and specialists of innovation and the creation of start-ups, detects scientific results that hold promise, creates partnerships with the most active health-selector compagnies, protects by patents the “nuggets” found by research and stimulates projects for the development of new drugs. To capitalize on the research and help Institute researchers to create their own “start-ups”, the iPEPS-Institut du Cerveau – ICM incubator establishes a link between research and the concrete applications that can be developed. Capitalization on knowledge and know-how leads to the rapid creation of medical applications from the fruits of research. It should assure the autonomy and the competitiveness of the Institut du Cerveau – ICM.

Transform knowledgeand capitalize on research

The Institut du Cerveau – ICM has obtained the prestigious “Institut Carnot” seal of approval and, as such is supported in its strategy of development by industrial partnerships: the team “Research & Technology Development”, thanks to this support, has initiated a proactive process to detect innovations and collaborate with industry.

In 2013, these efforts led to the signature of more than 70 contracts, 25 of which were new scientific collaborations. A special effort was made to assure the quality of the management of the partnership, in order to encourage team work and assure the fidelity of the industrial partners (about half are international, interacting for the first time with researchers of the Institute).

In addition, five promising new patents were filed in 2013: a method for diagnosing epilepsy, a new modulator for the treatment of Parkinson disease, a method to detect states of consciousness, a molecular target in Alzheimer disease, neuroprotective agents for Parkinson disease. Two licences are being negotiated to permit fabrication of the products; one has already been signed with a French industrial partner.

The Institut du Cerveau – ICM has also initiated a new approach to prospection, by proposing well-targeted applied research projects to major international groups.