Drayson Technologies has scored a 5-Year Strategic Research Agreement (SRA) with the University of Oxford (OU) and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) in the field of digital health, the company has announced.
The SRA builds on the exclusive licensing agreement between Drayson Technologies and Oxford University for the SEND, GDm-Health and EDGE digital health products, which was announced earlier this year. It provides Drayson Technologies with an option to license IP developed by Professor Lionel Tarassenko and certain collaborators in the field of digital health.
The Agreement will “create a pathway” for the production of world-class digital health products, commercialized globally by Drayson Technologies. And as a result, millions of NHS and patients all around the world are set to benefit from these cutting edge technologies invented in Oxford and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
“This highly innovative partnership will ensure that there is a pathway from invention to commercialization for digital health products created in Oxford that will deliver benefits to patients and reinvestment back into the University and the NHS Trust,” Lord Paul Drayson, Chairman and CEO of Drayson Technologies, said in a statement.
Also, the SRA ensures that some of the profits from these technologies will come back into the NHS Trust and University of Oxford to benefit more patients and fund more research. Speaking of which, Drayson Technologies will sponsor significant further research and clinical validation of new digital health products over the next 5 years.
As part of the deal, the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will receive in aggregate £5m worth of equity in Drayson Technologies as part of the Series C funding round. Said round, worth £10m, was led by Woodford Investment Management.
Drayson Technologies has raised over £41m to date and this most recent round of investment will enable it to continue its mission to understand the health of an individual in the context of their environment and generate actionable information and discoveries that improve health and reduce healthcare costs.
“This Strategic agreement between the University and Drayson Technologies will allow us to build on the existing licensing agreements between Drayson Technologies and Oxford University Innovation,” said Dr Paul Ashley, Head of Technology Transfer, Life Sciences at Oxford University Innovation. “Combining the innovation and insight of the Department of Engineering Science and the Trust with the resources and expertise of Drayson Technologies provides great opportunity for new groundbreaking technologies that could have a significant impact on healthcare around the world.”