Resources

Links & Literature

One of the goals of SPARK is to teach academic scholars the principles of Drug, Medical Device & Diagnostic Development with focus on topics, which are relevant for translational medicine. This teaching approach covers also disciplines such as Legal, Finance, or Industry directed to entrepreneurial scientists.

>>> Helpful Resources: Subject Guides

SPARK Global

The extraordinary and successful (hi)story of SPARK. From the idea to the product.

In 2006, Professor Daria Mochly-Rosen created and founded the SPARK program at Stanford University in the USA. She serves as President and Founder of the SPARK Global organization.

SPARK is an extraordinary link between the university and industry sectors that aims to provide the training and mentoring necessary to take medical discoveries from research to application. Worldwide, the SPARK model has now been adopted in more than 70 institutes.

Video "Welcome Note and Overview of the Day – Kevin Grimes, SPARK Co-Director"

Video "SPARKee Story – Prof. Craig Garner, SPARK Berlin founder"

Video "TEDMED: SPARKing a New Generation in Translational Research – Prof. Daria Mochly-Rosen

“A Practical Guide to Drug Development in Academia” – written by Daria Mochly-Rosen and Kevin Grimes; 2014, Stanford USA
This book is a helpful companion for people who have already founded or want to establish their own translational research programs. It gives a general overview of the fundamental subjects in the development process.

Entrepreneurship

The entrepreneur's journey to success is a long and exciting journey. Entrepreneurs develop a business idea and turn it into a viable business model, leading to a very small beginning enterprise. Ultimately, along this journey, the entrepreneur will cross paths with a wide variety of people such as businesspeople, lawyers and investors. Hence, embarking on the entreprenurial journey will also require different types of skills including business and finance skills.

From Business Idea to Business Model

Das Start-up-Cockpit für Unternehmensgründer: Erfolgreich von der Idee zum Proof-of-Concept by Sven Ripsas

Sven Ripsas, Professor of Entrepreneurship, founder and angel investor published very recently his book "Das Start-up-Cockpit für Unternehmensgründer: Erfolgreich von der Idee zum Proof-of-Concept". The Start-up Cockpit is designed as a control instrument for data-driven business model analysis. It helps founders to avoid wasting resources and to build a profitable company as quickly as possible. The book is currently only available in German.

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game-Changers, and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pugneur

Alexander Osterwalder invented the Business Model Canvas during his doctoral dissertation. The Business Model Canvas is a framework for visualizing business models. The tool quickly spread from Europe to the US and is now applied in leading organizations and startups worldwide. The framework was explained in the bestselling management book "Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game-Changers, and Challengers“, which Alexander co-authored with his former thesis supervisor Yves Pigneur.

Find out more about concept of the Business Model Canvas in this 2-minute video.

Strategyzer

Alexander Osterwalder co-founded Strategyzer (former BusinessModelDesign.com). The software company specializes in tools and content needed for business strategy and innovation. Within the Strategyzer software you can rapidly sketch business ideas, test, and share them using different visual practical tools such as the business model canvas.

Business Plan Competition

BPW Businessplan-Wettbewerb Berlin-Brandenburg

Businessplan-Wettbewerb - Hasso-Plattner-Institut

Raising Money

Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson

This book provides the inner-workings of the venture capital process and how deals are made. It also outlines the essential legal elements of a deal with valuable examples and advice. Venture Deals takes a balanced view between the entrepreneurs' view and the venture capitalists' perspective.

Lessons on Business and Entrepreneurship

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Eric Ries, a serial entrepreneur, co-created the lean startup movement. In his book, he presented the lean methodology that helps startups avoid failing. One of the key components of the lean methodology is the build-measure-learn feedback loop.The lean startup has been adopted by entrepreneurs worldwide.

Self-Study Courses and Boot Camps

Wall Street Prep

Wall Street Prep is a global financial training firm founded by a group of JP Morgan investment bankers. A variety of self-study courses and virtual boot camps are offered by Wall Street Prep, such as Demystifying VC Term Sheets & Cap Tables.

Public and Private Funding

Life Science projects typically have a need for substantial amounts of capital. There are public-sector support programs, typically targeting early-stage projects also known as the pre-seed stage.

Once the project has been further developed, entrepreneurs typicall take the first steps in forming a startup (if they haven't done that before). This is called the seed stage. Seed funding is the first equity funding stage. It represents the first official money that comes from business angels or venture capital investors in exchange for equity. As the startup progresses, it enters into further VC funding stages working towards a successful exit.

Public Financing Sources - a selection of funding programs targeting early stage projects

European Commission - Horizon 2020

EXIST - Forschungstransfer (BMWi)

EXIST - Gründerstipendium (BMWi)

Förderung durch Stiftungen

GO-Bio initial (BMBF)

GründungsBONUS (IBB)

KMU innovativ (BMBF)

Nationale Dekade gegen Krebs (BMBF)

ProFIT (ILB)

ProFIT - Frühphasenfinanzierung (IBB)

ProFIT - Program zur Förderung von Forschung, Innovationen und Technologien (IBB)

Research in Germany

START MTI - Innovative Start-ups für Mensch-Technik-Interaktion (BMBF)

Berliner Startup Stipendium

Validierung des technologischen und gesellschaftlichen Innovationspotenzials wissenschaftlicher Forschung - VIP+ (BMBF)

Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand - ZIM" (BMBF)

Equity Financing Sources - a selection of public and private venture capital firms based in Germany targeting startups in the life science sector

Brandenburg Kapital

DieBrückenKöpfe

Earlybird

Heal Capital

High-Tech Gründerfonds

IBB Ventures

NRW.Bank

Peppermint Venture Partners

Speedinvest

TVM Capital

Wellington Partners

Patents

A patent is the grant of a property right to the inventor by an authority for an invention. A patent provides protection when the patent owner discloses the invention publicly as it exclude others from making use of this particular invention for a limited period, generally 20 years from the filing date of the application. Patents are a form of intellectual property.

An invention must meet certain basic criteria to be patentable. Before filing a patent application, it is recommended to carry out a prior patent search.

Patent Register

Euopean Patent Office

United States Patent and Trademark Office

The Basics

How to Apply for a European Patent: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Grant Procedure

European Patents and the Grant Procedure

United States Patent and Trademark Office: Getting Started

Databases & Searching for Patents

Searching for Patents: Patent Documents, Definitions, Classification & Families

Patent Search: Espacenet

How to use Espacenet

DEPATISnet

PATENTSCOPE

Courses & Online Training

E-learning Centre of the European Patent Academy

Literature on Patents

Depil, S., Duchateau, P., Grupp, S.A. et al. ‘Off-the-shelf’ allogeneic CAR T cells: development and challenges. Nat Rev Drug Discov 19, 185–199 (2020). "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-019-0051-2"