Have you ever thought that your research might have BOTH commercial and academic value? Or questioned if the two are compatible? Then come and listen to someone who decided to find out.

Dr Sharon O’Kane Biography
Sharon is the co-founder and until February 2010 was the Chief Scientific Officer and a Main Board Director at Renovo Group plc. Renovo is a specialty biopharmaceutical company based in Manchester and a leader in the di...scovery and development of drugs to reduce scarring (www.renovo.com). The company was founded by Sharon and Professor Mark Ferguson in October 2000 raising £8m from venture capital investors, a second round of financing ($23m) followed in 2003, and the company floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2006 raising a further £67.5m. In 2007, Renovo signed a licensing deal with Shire for their lead drug Juvista, worth up to $825m plus royalties. It currently employs over 100 people and has a market capitalisation of £57M (4/10/10).

Before co-founding Renovo, Sharon had a 15-year career based in academia, with many industrial collaborators, publications, invited speaking engagements, large peer-reviewed grants, and numerous international research awards and was latterly at the University of Manchester as a Senior Research Fellow. Sharon is an inventor on all of the company’s broad IP portfolio, and continues to publish in high profile journals. She has a PhD and BSc (First Class) Honours degree from the University of Ulster.

Sharon delivers various masterclasses on spin-out company formation, entrepreneurship, and the role of women in business and in science. She is a judge of the BBSRC Young Entrepreneur competition final, reviews PhD studentship awards for the MRC and applications for the L’Oreal Women in Science Awards. She is a member of the MRC’s Immunology and Infection Steering Group.

Sharon is currently on the Board of a start-up drug development company, TPP, and is the Entrepreneur in Residence to UMIP, the University of Manchester intellectual property company.

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