Fusion generates profit from research

In the six months ended January 31, the company made a profit of 900,000, excluding subsidiary spin-out costs and amortisation, compared to a 500,000 loss in the same period the year before.

David Baynes, the chief executive of Fusion IP, said: "This has been a good period for the company, one in which we have raised funds, broadly progressed the portfolio, signed agreements with key new investors and, importantly, moved towards profitability.

"Our relationships with our universities remain as positive as ever and our IP pipelines continue to look very strong. We look forward to the rest of the financial year."

Fusion IP, previously called Biofusion, was established in 2002 to commercialise university-generated intellectual property.

Fusion's first agreement was a 10-year exclusive arrangement with the University of Sheffield which gave it the right to commercialise research, owned by the university, initially in the area of medical life sciences. This agreement was expanded in July 2008 to include all non-life science research-generated intellectual property such as energy, engineering and electronics. Fusion has significant shareholdings in a portfolio of Sheffield University spin-out companies including Simcyp, Magnomatics, Diurnal and Phase Focus.

In January 2007, Fusion completed a 10-year exclusive agreement with Cardiff University, also giving it the right to commercialise, through the creation of spin-out companies, Cardiff University's research-generated IP.

In its interim results, the company increased revenue and portfolio returns to 1.8m, an improvement on the 500,000 achieved in the same period the year before.

Fusion IP created three companies over the half year – Seren Photonics, which aims to use research from the University of Sheffield to produce more energy efficient LED lamps, Asalus, a medical devices company based in Wales and Progenteq, a Welsh-based firm which is devising treatments for severe knee injuries.