Hannover, Germany. Unitectra, the technology transfer unit of the universities of Basel, Bern and Zürich, has won the EUROPEAN BIOTECHNICA AWARD in 2011. The company received the award in Hannover during Tuesday evening’s opening ceremony of BIOTECHNICA. It was presented by Jörg Bode, Lower Saxony’s Minister of Economics, Professor Dr. Heinz Riesenhuber, former German Minister for Research and Technology, and Dr. Andreas Gruchow, member of the Board at Deutsche Messe AG. The award – which was being presented for the ninth time – this year honours the contribution of European transfer organizations within academic biotech and life science institutes to successful technology transfer between business and industry.
“Unitectra has made an exceptional contribution to the initiation and promotion of cooperation between the publicly funded research community and business”, stressed Dr. Karsten Henco, chairman of the international jury. “This organization fulfils the criteria of this year’s award in an exemplary fashion, and the services it provides have proven immensely valuable.” Unitectra offers researchers and university management a broad spectrum of services in the field of research collaborations and in the commercialization of research findings, and also plays a special role in assisting spin-off companies and start-ups.
“We are delighted to receive this award”, says Herbert Reutimann, co-founder and director of Unitectra. “It is recognition of the hard work carried out by the entire Unitectra team over the past 15 years and confirms that we are on the right track with our approach at the interface between universities and the business sector.” The incorporated, not-for-profit company Unitectra is owned by the universities of Bern and Zürich.
The EUROPEAN BIOTECHNICA AWARD has been regularly presented by Deutsche Messe AG and its partners since 2003. As from 2011 the entry conditions have been altered. Candidates can now no longer simply submit their entries – instead, entrants must be nominated. Whereas in the past the award was bestowed on three companies, there will in future be only one winner. The award competition will be devoted to a single keynote theme for each event. This year’s award theme is Technology Transfer. Information on the terms of participation and previous award winners can be found online at http://www.biotechnica.de/en/about-the-trade-show/programme/award/hall-of-fame
About Unitectra
Unitectra was founded in 1996 under the name Biotectra as the technology transfer unit of the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Priority Program Biotechnology. In 1999 Unitectra was converted into an incorporated, not-for-profit company which is fully owned by the universities of Bern and Zurich. Unitectra offers a range of services for the researchers of these universities and their associated hospitals, in particular in the areas of research collaboration and the commercialization of research results (patents, licensing, support of spin-off companies). Since January 2011 Unitectra has also acted as the technology transfer unit of the University of Basel and its associated hospitals. Unitectra maintains offices in Basel, Bern and Zurich.
About BIOTECHNICA
BIOTECHNICA in Hannover is the leading trade fair and congress event for biotechnology and the life sciences in Europe. BIOTECHNICA focuses on pioneering developments and biotechnological applications in the fields of medicine, the food industry, industrial production, agriculture and environmental technology. Other keynote themes include bio-process technology, bio-analysis and bioinformatics. The trade fair will also highlight a diverse spectrum of services for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Deutsche Messe AG has been organizing BIOTECHNICA at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds since 1985.
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Your contact for information at Unitectra:
Dr. sc. nat. ETH Herbert Reutimann
Managing Director Unitectra
Technology Transfer, Universities of Basel, Bern and Zurich (incl. University Hospitals)
Zurich: Moehrlistrasse 23; CH-8006 Zurich; tel. +41-44-634 44 91
E-Mail: reutimann@unitectra.ch
web: http://www.unitectra.ch ; http://www.spinoff.ch
Your contact for information at Deutsche Messe:
Katharina Siebert
Tel.: +49 511 89-31028
E-mail: katharina.siebert@messe.de
Additional press releases and photos may be downloaded from: www.biotechnica.de/pressservice
