Archive '06 - '07

December 2007: Heuberger Entrepeneur prize for ETH spin-offs

The ETH spin-offs Liberovision and Advanced Metal Technology AG were two of the winners of the "Heuberger Winterthur Jungunternehmerpreis".  Both start up companies received the a prize money of 100'000 CHF each. ETH life
www.liberovision.com

October 2007: Successful IPO of U-Blox

Shares increased with nearly 20 percent on day one. U-Blox is a spin-off from ETH Zurich and was founded in 1997.
www.u-blox.com

Juni 2007: Awards for ETH Zurich Spin-offs Arktis and Redbiotec

Arktis Radiation Detectors, a new company spun out of ETH Zurich claimed 1st prize at the ZKB 2007 Pionierpreis competition held at Technopark Zurich and later in Solothurn one of the five Young Entrepreneurs Awards of the W.A. de Vigier Foundation.
The ZKB Pionierpreis is awarded to the most innovative project with the greatest market potential and comes with prize money totaling CHF 31'415.92.  The de Vigier Award for young entrepreneurs does not only grant a prize money of 100'000 CHF, but also comes with immaterial benefits such as valuable partner contacts for the award winners, training in media skills and similar.
Arktis Radiation Detectors is developing products based upon a technology developed at ETH Zurich which will scan cargo containers in transit for potentially dangerous radioactive substances.
A second award winner of the de Vigier Prize is the ETH Zurich spin-off company Redbiotec.  This company is developing proteins in vitro as they appear in human cells, so that in a later stage illnesses like cancer, Alzheimer or other lethal diseases can be treated with them.

April 2007: ETH Zurich Spin-offs Chosen as Finalists in Start-up TV Series, «Start up - Der Weg zur eigenen Firma»

Three ETH Zurich spin-off companies have been chosen among 13 finalists out of the 937 original start-up candidates from the television series: “Start up – Der Weg zur eingenen Firma”. The next segment, which airs on Monday April 30th at 22.20 (SF 1), will determine who will proceed to the next round of coaching and presentations to investors.

ETH Spin-off Companies in "Start up - Der Weg zur eigenen Firma:"

• Dybuster AG http://www.dybuster.ch/
• Kooaba GmbH http://www.kooaba.com/
• Kringlan Composites http://www.kringlan.ch/

April 2007: Novartis Enters Exclusive License Agreement with ETH Spin-off, Cytos Biotechnology to Develop, Manufacture and Commercialize Novel Vaccine for Treatment of Nicotine Addiction

Novartis AG has entered into an exclusive global commercial license agreement with Cytos Biotechnology AG for the nicotine vaccine CYT002-NicQb. The upfront payment by Novartis will be CHF 35 million; further investments are based upon the successful development and commercialization of CYT002-NicQb.

Novartis is responsible for late stage clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization of the vaccine with Cytos being eligible to receive royalty payments on net sales. Thus, for Cytos, the long search to find a partner for their Nicotine vaccine comes to and end. Phase-III studies are slated to begin in 2008.

Cytos Biotechnology AG was founded as a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, and is located in Schlieren (Zurich): www.cytos.com

Novartis AG is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland: www.novartis.com

December 2006: ETH Spin-off, FLISOM AG, recognised by WEF as "Technology Pioneer 2007"

FLISOM was selected as a "Technology Pioneer 2007" in the category "energy" by the World Economic Forum. FLISOM is the first Swiss company to obtain this recognition. Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. The Technology Pioneers were nominated by the world’s leading venture capital and technology companies.
For further information see www.weforum.org/techpioneers and www.flisom.ch

November 2006: Prix du Jeune Entrepreneur for Students

The French External Trade Advisors Committee (C.C.E.F.) will carry out its "Prix du Jeune Entrepreneur" of 2007.
This competition is especially aimed at students. Find more details in the competition rules or in this German Poster. For your convenience, you may download the registration form, from this web site.  Correspondent at ETH Zurich is Dr. Regula Altmann-Jöhl.

November 2006: Technology for Anthrax Test Available

Monoclonal antibodies based on carbohydrates open new perspectives for fast and reliable anthrax diagnosis. More...

Oktober 2006: Alstom (Schweiz) AG and ETH Zurich Found New Spin-Off Company

ETH Zurich and ALSTOM (Switzerland) AG to establish the spin-off company “ALSTOM Inspection Robotics AG” in the Zurich Technopark. More...

Oktober 2006: Swiss TV Looking for Young Entrepreneurs

With the airing of a new program in April 2007 on Swiss TV: «Start up – Der Weg zur eigenen Firma» enterprising people will find out how to turn their ideas into a business and which ones have a chance to make it to success. Schweizer Fernsehen is looking for Innovative business ideas from the whole of Switzerland! Application deadline is December 11^th 2006. Further information, in German only.

September 2006: First Test Launch of StratXX "X-Station"

Researchers from ETH Zurich, EPFL and the Universities of Neuchatel and York came together on Sept 29th in Zug to launch a test balloon showcasing their collaborative research and development on a Near-Space communications technology.

Applications for the WiMAX–based X-Station range from communications support for wireless devices to high quality imaging and surveillance for large pipeline installations. 

Several hours after the initial launch, the test balloon successfully reached its destination at 21 kilometers.

Inventor, entrepreneur and founder of StraXX, Kamal Alawi is the driving force behind the technical collaboration and saw the test launch as “a successful milestone in the development of the X-station and a starting point for the prototype phase of the project”.

September 2006: Patent Seminar at D-MATL

Corina Schuett and Matthias Hölling from ETH transfer presented on September 12 a Patent Seminar for members of the Materials Department (D-MATL).

Included was information on what designates an invention or technology as “patentable”, when one should file for a patent, and important differences in patent law between countries.

The many questions and subsequent intensive discussion lead us to believe there is a strong interest for this kind of information in the ETH Zurich community.

If your group or department is interested in a Patent Seminar, or learning more about the Technology Transfer process at ETH Zurich, contact us: transfer@sl.ethz.ch

September 2006: Micro-Nano Industry Day

Business leaders met on September 5, 2006, with representatives from 30 different research groups within ETH Zurich for an exchange on current technologies and trends in the Micro-Nano sciences.

Find more information on current research in the Micro-Nano Sciences at ETH Zurich: http://www.micronano.ethz.ch/projects/index

Juni 2006: Venture 2006 awards ceremony

June 6th, the final event of Venture 2006 took place: The winning teams were awarded - with 4 teams of ETH Zürich under the five leading awards. We congratulate all participants! More information is given on www.venture.ch.

May 2006: Annual Report of ETH transfer 2005

The activities of ETH transfer for the year 2005 in few words:

ETH transfer

• evaluated 81 Invention Disclosures
  
• filed 48 inventions for a patent
  
• negotiated 60 License and Technology Transfer Contracts
• handled more than 400 Reserach Contracts with a Volume of
  56.3 Million Swiss Francs
• supported the foundation of 9 Spin-off Companies
  

More information is given in the Annual Report (only in German).

March 2006: New Organisation of ETH transfer

ETH transfer, the technology transfer office of ETH Zurich, has a new structure. Specific questions and requests can be addressed directly to the following sections:

Research Collaborations and Partnerships with Industry
This group is responsible for questions on research collaborations with industry or governmental organisations and on partnerships with industry. We give advice on contracts, write draft agreements and negotiate directly with the partners.
Contact: Andreas Klöti (Section Leader), Susanne Riedener, Corina Schütt (MTAs)

Inventions, Patents and Licenses
Inventions made at ETH Zurich will be evaluated and respective patent applications may be filed. In addition, potential licensees are identified and contracts negotiated.
Contact: Silke Meyns (Section leader, Chemistry und Agronomy), Corina Schütt (Life Sciences), Mattias Beck (Technical Fields), Matthias Hölling (Technical Fields), Silvio Bonaccio (Materials)

Spin-off Companies
Employees or alumni of ETH Zurich that plan to commercialize an invention or technology developed at ETH Zurich will be advised by ETH transfer on the first steps in founding an ETH-Spin-off company.
Contact: Mattias Beck, Silvio Bonaccio

The Contact Persons can also be found under People.

February 2006: First awards ceremony for Venture 2006

February 2nd, the ten best business ideas have been awarded at Venture 2006, the business plan competition of ETH ZUrich and McKinsey & Company Switzerland. Within the winners, there are three teams of ETH Zurich:

• LiberoVision from the Departement of Informatics will revoutionize the broadcasting of sports events, e.g. soccer games, with pictures from different perspectives.
• Covagen from the Departement of Biology has a new method to produce proteins which are therapeutically interesting.
• Flisom, a company that is already founded and originates in the Departement of Physics, has developed a new thin film solarcell with increased efficiency and durability.

More information on the event are given in ETH life. Information on the business plan competition are found on www.venture.ch. The competition will now enter the second round for the development of a business plan. It is open to all people in Switzerland, even if they did not take part in the first round.

January 2006: Apply now for the Swiss Economic Award 2006

The Swiss Economic Award is one of the foremost prize for innovative new companies in Switzerland. It is presented every year to start-ups that display outstanding business acumen. All Swiss-based companies set up in the past six years are eligible to take part.

Apply until February 25, 2006.

More information can be found on  www.swisseconomic.ch

January 2006: swiTT website launched

swiTT, the Association of the Swiss Professionals for Academic Technology Transfer, has launched its website. The website features information on swiTT and the services of technology transfer centers of Switzerland, as well as on licensing opportunities of the respective members.

Details can be found on www.switt.ch