Background

Born in Berlin, with PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of London and DSc degrees, Felix Franks joined Unilever Research Division as a Manager of the Biophysics Division.  It was here that the seeds of his future innovation were planted.  He later made the transition from industry to academia to join the Department of Plant Sciences at Cambridge University as a Leverhulme Trust Professorial Research Fellow.  It was during his research there that Felix realised the potential of starting a company based on the commercial development of his work

Setting up the Company

In1984 he approached the administration at Cambridge for support and advice on filing patents and embarking on a commercial enterprise but, to his surprise, he found there was nothing available.   Back in the early 80's there was little or no infra-structure for technology transfer at universities as there is now and spin-outs were not the norm.   Felix therefore had to mange setting up an enterprise himself.   This is in complete contrast to today where various support and advice mechanisms are present at many UK universities and government organisations are specially set up to deal with small business issues.

 

Undeterred, Felix approached another part of the university, Trinity College.   They were so impressed by Felix's previous record and the potential of his new technology that they provided the support he was looking for and wet chemistry laboratory facilities for the company on Cambridge Science Park.  

Obtaining Funding

An existing company named Pafra Ltd supplied seed funding finance and in 1984 Pafra Biopreservation was set up. It developed stabilisation processes for bioproducts, called Permazyme, and also undertook freeze-drying consultancy projects.  Permazyme had the potential to stabilise chemically unstable molecules at ambient temperatures by utilising materials science principles and applying them to biological molecules.

Obtaining Intellectual Property Rights

The first patent on Permazyme from Pafra Biopreservation  was filed in 1989 and by 1991 the patent had been granted.   This covered the EU, with the USA patent following two years later.   The company began to receive interest from a US company, Inhale Therapeutics.   They were looking for ways to stabilise dried insulin at room temperature for delivery via an inhalation system.   The potential of the technology was soon recognised and Pafra Biopreservation partnered with Inhale Therapeutics to carry out further lab work on Permazyme.   In 1992 Pafra Biopreservation licensed the technology to Inhale Therapeutics.   It was here that Exubera, the inhaled form of insulin was born. 

 

Between 1993 and 2003, the IP on Exhubra was challenged by several major pharmaceutical companies, causing lengthy and costly legal battles.   Today, it is well documented that early stage companies find the defence of their IP a costly and almost impossible process.   Pafra Biopreservation was fortunate that Inhale Therapeutics were able to cover the cost of defending the IP.   This ran into millions of dollars but Inhale Therapeutics, now Nektar Therapeutics, predicted that Exhubra could potentially be worth billions of dollars.

Joining the Giants

In 1998 Nektar Therapeutics joined forces with pharmaceutical giants Pfizer who had the finance and expertise to commercialise and market Exubera on a global scale.  Clinical trials began and in October 2005 the Expert Committee of the Federal Drugs Agency recommended the registration of the insulin delivery system technology.  This landmark decision is the accumulation of 16 years hard work, perseverance and cost millions of dollars but with the potential to have an immense impact on millions of lives all round the world, this journey has been worth while.  Full FDA and EU approvals were granted early 2006.

 

 

The story of Felix Franks and Exubera is a successful one but what the UK Chemical sector must ensure is that the technologies of tomorrow being researched in UK universities today are given the opportunities to reach commercialisation.  This will ensure that the entrepreneurial and innovative culture which is already prevalent in the UK grows and expands and reaches its full potential.