MRCT HISTORY

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has had a commercial liaison function since the mid-1980s. In the late 1980s MRC set up the ‘MRC Collaborative Centre’ (MRC CC) at Mill Hill in North London . This was a laboratory based technology transfer operation that forged strong links with a number of pharmaceutical companies including Glaxo, Marion Merrill Dow, Teijin and Sankyo. Subsequently, MRC CC was established as a company, limited by guarantee and with charitable status.

By the mid-1990s, the MRC’s commercial liaison office had evolved into the ‘Technology Transfer Group’ (TTG) and was involved in office based patenting and licensing. A second collaborative centre was also created in Edinburgh based on the Mill Hill model.

In 1999, a decision was made to bring all three of these technology transfer operations under one umbrella. The operations and staff of TTG and the Scottish collaborative centre were transferred into MRC CC and renamed Medical Research Council Technology which officially began life in January 2000. This created a company with patenting, licensing and early stage development expertise as well as strong commercial skills.