Companies

The Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) is the largest public research organisation in Spain. CSIC is a multidisciplinary organisation with 130 centres located nationwide and a workforce of 13000. CSIC files an average of 60 international (PCT) and 180 Spanish patent applications and signs more than 60 technology licenses each year.

The Deputy Vice-Presidency for Knowledge Transfer is CSIC’s gateway for companies, ranging from SMEs to multinationals. We facilitate the appropriate contacts and are responsible for the cooperation with the industry, through research contracts and license agreements.

Some examples of our commitment to collaborate with companies in the field of Life Sciences are:

 √  Researchers at CSIC developed a method for DNA amplification based on a polymerase of the bacteriophage Phi29. This enzyme is particularly suitable for whole genome amplification from minute amounts of biological samples. Besides, the method works at mild temperature with no need of heating / cooling cycles. Different kits are marketed by GE Healthcare and QIAGEN under a patent license agreement with CSIC and are widely used for genetic analyses in research, testing and forensics.

 √  Gluten is a protein mixture present in several cereals which is toxic to celiacs. Nowadays gluten can be found in many processed foods and therefore a reliable test to measure its content is an absolute requirement for celiacs to ensure a long-life gluten-free diet. CSIC has developed an immunological test that is being assessed by the FAO and the WHO for replacement of its current Codex Alimentarius standard, thus paving its way to become the worldwide official technique to certify gluten-free food producers. CSIC’s technique is already endorsed by many associations of celiacs and thus four European companies successfully market kits for gluten measurement under a license agreement with CSIC.

 √  CSIC collaborated with Innogenetics N.V. (Belgium) and several research institutions and universities from Spain, Italy and the UK to develop an ELISA method to detect the Maedi-Visna virus. The patented method is licensed to the French company Hyphen and thus farmers have now a reliable tool to detect this virus, which may cause chronic pneumonia, mastitis, encephalitis and arthritis in sheep.

In summary, whether you are looking for technology licenses, collaborative research and development, research under contract, technological services, or any other form of interaction with a key player in research and innovation in Cancer, Infectious and Cardiovascular diseases, Physiopathology, Immunology, Neurobiology, Genomics and Proteomics, Diagnosis techniques, Molecular and Structural biology, Veterinary biosciences, Industrial biotechnology and bio-processing, Biopharmaceutical development, Bioremediation, Bioinformatics, Biophysics, Plant biotechnology, Agricultural science, Food science and technology and other Life Sciences areas, we will be glad of hearing from you.

CSIC looks for mutually fruitful collaborations based upon licensing of knowledge (mainly patents, but also know-how, biological materials, etc), research contract and, to a lesser extent, joint ventures (including by generation of "spin-off" companies together with external stakeholders).

We very much prefer working with companies using a licensing approach to establish long-term collaborations with our researchers, but are also willing to make deals involving just licensing.