24 January 2003
A report by the National Audit Office, Reaping the rewards of agricultural research, said this week that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had received five times its £3m investment.
But a team of scientists and managers whose 'participation was essential to the deal' realised 16 times their investment.
The report said it had proved difficult to attract staff with the business skills to exploit intellectual property developed from the department's sponsored research.
The department ploughs some £100m a year into research, but in most cases funding ends long before anything commercially exploitable has been developed. The deal with Geron Corporation over Dolly was the exception, reaping some £15.5m for the public sector from a £3m investment.
PFjan2003
