Sophie Theriault’s eyes quickly scan the room. Dozens of well-wishers have gathered in the sunny atrium of The McCain Foundation Learning Commons of UPEI’s Atlantic Veterinary College.
Theriault is the director of Three Oaks Innovations Inc., the commericialization arm of the University of Prince Edward Island. She’s preparing to toast Three Oaks’ latest success story -- the licensing of several pieces of UPEI technology to a biotech company.
A waiter finishes handing out glasses. Theriault raises her glass to toast the agreement, and to a busy couple of months for technology transfer at the University.
“It really has been an exciting year for innovation at UPEI,” says Theriault later, in a quieter moment in her office. “We announced the University’s first-ever licensing agreement at the end of the summer. Within two months, we’d licensed four more pieces of technology, and helped a researcher launch a new company.”
Three Oaks Innovations Inc. is an independent company mandated to manage the transfer of UPEI technology and intellectual property to industry partners.
“I work with university researchers who have developed technology that has potential in the marketplace, and I work with industries that are looking for technology to invest in or license,” says Theriault.
The list of companies created with the help of Three Oaks is impressive: ScreenScape, a company that creates a network of digital signs for businesses and other organizations and employs more than 40 people in its offices in Charlottetown and Toronto; DiscoveryGarden Inc, which creates and services open-source digital storage solutions; and Nautilus Biosciences Canada, a company that discovers and develops sustainable pharmaceuticals and cosmetics products from marine organisms.
“Three Oaks Innovations has been instrumental in developing a licensing agreement between UPEI and Nautilus,” says Dr. Russ Kerr, CEO of Nautilus Biosciences Canada. “It gives Nautilus access to patented technology developed at UPEI. The licensing of this patent is a key milestone for the university, and for Nautilus.”
Three Oaks Innovations also connects UPEI technologies with industry partners. CNS CRO, a subsidiary of bioscience company Neurodyn Inc., recently licensed four pieces of medical technology to be used in research around stroke, schizophrenia, and epilepsy.
At the time of the agreement, Neurodyn CEO Ken Cawkell said, “CNS CRO is extremely pleased with the successful conclusion of these licensing negotiations, through which the company has gained access to UPEI's world-class models of CNS disease. Together with our existing models, our suite of leading-edge drug discovery tools clearly differentiates the CNS CRO offering from that of existing CRO service providers.”
“We’re also working on a new company that will be spun out from the University in the coming months,” says Theriault. “There is always something new here. Research and development at UPEI has exploded in the last decade. Three Oaks Innovations helps bring some of those ideas and technologies into the marketplace. People are really starting to notice.”
