The Food and Environment Research Agency

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The Food and Environment Research Agency

• Dr Louise Byass
• IP Exploitation Manager

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Background

• Fera brings together the Central Science
  Laboratory (CSL), the UK Government
  Decontamination Service (GDS), the Plant Health
  and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI), Plant Varieties
  and Seeds Division (PVS) and Plant Health
  Division (PHD).
• The creation of Fera will help to strengthen
  Defras groundbreaking food, farming and
  environmental research programmes in support of
  the Departments objectives, through its work in
• plant and crop protection
• food chain safety
• environmental risk assessment
• crisis response

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Our Purpose

• Developing a sustainable food chain
• Developing a healthy natural environment
• Protecting the global community

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Our role

• Regulation
• Policy and inspectorate functions for plant
  health, bee health and plant varieties and seeds
• Research
• Robust scientific research, analysis and evidence
  for government and commercial customers worldwide
• Response
• Advice, guidance and support as part of the UKs
  capability to respond and recover in emergency
  situations

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Our Capabilities

• Horizon scanning, policy and strategy development
• Research and innovation
• Expert identification, measurement and modelling
• Risk assessment, mitigation and contingency
  response
• Better regulation, inspection, auditing and
  advice
• Development of globally important collections and
  datasets

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Organisational design
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Key facts

• Projected turnover 2009/10 - 72million
• Staff - 850
• Location
• Main labs at Sand Hutton, York, UK
• Seeds office at Cambridge, UK
• Wildlife Management facility at Woodchester Park,
  Gloucestershire, UK
• Regional inspectors at 40 locations across the
  UK, including Heathrow airport, Felixstowe
  seaport
• GDS office location near Stafford
• Website www.defra.gov.uk/fera

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Main site (Sand Hutton, York)
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Fera at a glance

• We have over 40,000 government and commercial
  customers
• We run over 600 research projects
• We provide services to customers in over 100
  countries
• We analyse over 50,000 plant and food samples a
  year
• We carry out over 150,000 plant and bee health
  inspection visits a year
• We work with more than 1000 collaboration partners

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Commercial activity

• Projected commercial income 09/10 15m
• RD and services to private sector, licensing
  etc.
• SMEs through to global blue chip companies
• Key account management moving towards fewer
  larger customers
• BDMs and marketing

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IP and its exploitation

• 16 patent families, similar number of TMs
• Mostly in diagnostic and pest management areas
• Licensing in and out
• Products proficiency testing schemes and
  reference materials, insect traps, web-based
  subscription products e.g. RAPPORT and fc24

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Products
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Forsite Diagnostics Ltdwww.forsitediagnostics.com

• Founded January 2007
• 7-figure external investment
• Based on Fera site

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InterAct project

• Unique collaboration between six public sector
  research establishments
• Cefas, Dstl, Fera, HPA, HSL, VLA
• 3m from DIUS over 3 years
• Objective to identify and exploit synergies in
  IP of partners
• Fera lead partner
• Includes Proof of Concept fund for partners

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Any questions?