One of the pioneering units in the formation of Unicamp, the Institute of Biology (IB), is highlighted in the Protection of Intellectual Property for the third time in the Inventores Award, from the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency. Of the 67 patent applications made by the University in 2019, 18 had the participation of IB researchers, which represents more than a quarter of the total. The main technological domains are pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. IB also won the award in the 2011 and 2018 editions.
For the director of the Unicamp Biology Institute, André Victor Lucci Freitas, the highlight is a source of pride that highlights the unit's history of tradition in teaching, research and extension. “Unicamp gives us a very favorable environment for intellectual growth, and excellence comes in every sense, both administratively and infrastructurally. Our students have the privilege of taking classes with people who are on the front lines of global research. These are quality policies that have been adopted for a long time and all of this is reflected in the numbers. A merit that has to be shared with Inova”.
The IB is one of the first three units created at Unicamp, in the same year the University was founded, in 1966. In the opinion of the associate director, Everardo Magalhães Carneiro, multidisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration also influences the good result. “IB does not live alone, it has always had very important interfaces inside and outside Unicamp. We collaborate with the Faculty of Medical Sciences, the Institutes of Chemistry and Physics, the Faculty of Food Engineering and other universities with an international presence, which over time favors greater productivity and the ability to generate patents”.
Since 1997, IB researchers have been involved in 210 invention patents that have been protected, 67% of which remain in force. The data collected by Inova shows that the Institute also has 38 computer programs, totaling 179 Invention Patent (IP) assets. Almost half of PIs (43%) were carried out collaboratively. Of these collaborations, 75% are with Science and Technology Institutions (ICTs), 9% with international ICTs. In the country, the Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) and the University of São Paulo (USP) are the most partner institutions. Another 25% of collaborations were signed with companies.
Freitas points out, however, that there is still unexplored potential at the Biology Institute, including at the University Extension where the closest contact between academia and society takes place. The director cites the Environmental area as an example, of which he is part of as a teacher and researcher. “We still lack the culture to understand that we develop technologies, in our work in the Environmental area, that can also be patented. We need to open up this range of possibilities so that everyone is aware and doesn’t miss out,” he ponders.
IB has 29 daughter companies, four of which are spin-offs – created based on the results of research or a laboratory at the Unit. Currently, 17 licensing agreements are in force. These contracts include eight patents, two of which are international patents. In 2019, 37% of patent filings received funding from FAPESP, the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation.
Read article in full on the Unicamp Innovation Agency website.
