UK Innovate will unite the Office of Technology Commercialization and several other initiatives as the university reveals it launched six new spinouts.

University of Kentucky has unveiled UK Innovate, a new umbrella that will unite the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), Social Innovation (under OTC), Innovation Economic Development, and Innovation and Entrepreneurial Training.
The creation of UK Innovate follows the promotion of Ian McClure from executive director of OTC to associate vice-president for research, innovation and economic impact in April this year.
McClure said: “UK Research has grown by 28% over the past two fiscal years and has seen consistent growth throughout its performance under the 2015-2000 university strategic plan.
“While OTC will continue to build commercialisation successes with the great leadership of Taunya Phillips, UK Innovate endeavours to signify a concerted emphasis on innovation culture at UK, elevating innovative and entrepreneurial activity as indicative of who we are and what we do and thereby recruiting and retaining faculty, staff and student talent inclined to immerse in that culture.”
The restructuring effort also comes as Kentucky released its annual report for the fiscal year 2020. The university celebrated increased activity across its invention disclosures (117, up 11%), patents filed (165, up 42%) and licences executed (29).
The university also launched six new spinouts over the past 12 months, matching the activity in 2018 and bouncing back from a drop to four spinouts generated in 2019. It now has 68 active spinouts in its portfolio.
The new companies are:

  • AmDx PrognostX, a healthcare company about which no further details appear to have been released;
  • Bioptics Technology, which is working on a wearable fluorescence imaging device for the intraoperative identification of brain tumours;
  • Rane Innovation, another healthcare company that seemingly remains in stealth;
  • TranSyn, a spinout from the College of Arts and Sciences;
  • Wild Dog Physics, the developer of a medical device and professional support service for cancer care; and
  • W-Z Biotech, the developer of a percutaneous pulmonary artery drainage device.
Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.
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