Max Planck Institute for plasma physics
Technology transfer since 1970

Max Planck Innovation

As the central technology transfer company of the Max Planck Society, Max Planck Innovation has helped bridge the gap between science and industry since 1970. We advise and support scientists of the Max Planck Society in the assessment of inventions and filing of patents. We also market patents and technologies to industry, while coaching founders on how to build up new companies based on the research results of the Max Planck Society.

Track record

Since our foundation, we have accompanied over 4,860 inventions and concluded more than 2,930 commercial contracts. Since 1990, 181 newly founded companies (spin-offs) have emerged from the Max Planck Society. Max Planck Innovation advised the vast majority of them. The total revenue for the inventors, the Max Planck Institutes, and the Max Planck Society currently amounts to around 550 million euros. On average, 130 new invention disclosures, as well as 80 patent applications, are added each year.

This record makes Max Planck Innovation one of the world’s leading technology transfer institutions.

Licensing – tomorrow’s revenue driver

Max Planck Innovation concludes around 80 license contracts a year, divided more or less equally between domestic and foreign companies. The type and scope of the licenses vary, as does the form of agreed payments. They extend from one-off payments (upfront payment) and pro-rata sales revenues (license fees) through to milestone payments extending beyond like the development of medicines. At present, several such potential revenues drivers are in development at our industrial partners.

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Start-up management – workplaces in growth industries

Our success – since we launched our professional support for company founders in 1990 – is clearly visible:

  • 170 companies founded
  • 120 spin-offs actively accompanied by Max Planck Innovation
  • 65 venture capital instances (13 of these with corporate financing) and/or financed by private investors
  • 51 MPG participations, 20 of these exits, 7 liquidations and 9 amortizations, thus 19 active participations
  • 7 listed companies
  • approx. 8,200 new workplaces, all in industries with a bright future
  • 12 participations or economic revenue shares of Max Planck Innovation
Our spin-off companies

Life Sciences

Extract:

 

Acus Laboratories GmbH

Köln

2018

Alacris Theranostics GmbH

Berlin

2008

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.

USA

2002

ARTEMIS Pharmaceuticals GmbH 
(now: Taconic Biosciences, Inc.)

Köln/Tübingen

1998

b. Fab GmbH

Dortmund

2018

Bionaut Labs Ltd.

USA

2016

Cardior Pharmaceuticals GmbH

Hannover

2016

Cutanos GmbH

Wien

2021

DeveloGen AG
(now: Evotec AG)

Göttingen

1997

Dewpoint Therapeutics Inc.

USA

2018

DIREVO Biotech AG
(now: Bayer Healthcare AG)

Köln

2000

Epigenomics AG

Berlin

1997

Eupheria Biotech GmbH

Dresden

2010

Evotec AG

Hamburg

1993

glyXera GmbH 

Magdeburg 

2012 

GreenTec GmbH 
(now: Phytowelt GreenTechnologies GmbH)

Köln

1997

Hawkeye Bio Inc.

USA

2018

Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG 
(now: Probiodrug AG)

Martinsried

1998

Jymmin GmbH

Leipzig

2019

KINAXO Biotechnologies GmbH 
(now: Evotec AG)

Martinsried

2005

Lipotype GmbH

Dresden

2012

metanomics GmbH

Berlin

1998

MicroDiscovery GmbH

Berlin

2000

MODAG GmbH

Wendelsheim

2013

MorphoSys AG

Martinsried

1992

nadicom GmbH

Marburg/Karlsruhe

2002

PlantTec GmbH 
(now: BayerCropScience AG)

Potsdam
(Monheim)

1996

Plastomics LLC

USA

2017

PreOmics GmbH

Martinsried

2016

Protagen AG

Dortmund

1999

ProteoPlex GmbH

Bonn

2017

proteros biostructures GmbH

Martinsried

1998

Quench Bio Inc.

USA

2018

QLi5 Therapeutics

Dortmund

2020

Rheos Medicine Inc.

USA

2018

Ribocon GmbH

Bremen

2005

Scienion AG

Dortmund/Berlin

2000

SUGEN Inc. (now: Pfizer Inc.)

USA

1991

SuppreMol GmbH 
(now: Baxter International Inc.)

Martinsried

2002

Systasy BioScience GmbH

München

2012

Tacalyx GmbH

Berlin

2019

terraplasma medical GmbH

Garching

2016

Targenomix GmbH

Potsdam

2013

Thermosome GmbH

Martinsried

2010

Toplab GmbH

Martinsried

1993

U3 Pharma AG
(now: Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.)

Martinsried

2001

Vaxxilon AG

Reinach (SCHWEIZ) / Berlin

2015

VicuTech Biologicals GmbH

Dortmund

2020

 

Chemistry - Physics - Technology

Extract:

 

Abberior GmbH 

Göttingen 

2011 

Abberior Instruments GmbH

Göttingen

2012

Aircloak GmbH

Kaiserslautern

2014

Algorithmic Solutions Software GmbH

Saarbrücken

1994

bbi biotech GmbH

Wildau/Magdeburg

2008

BinNova Metal Fiber Technology GmbH

Jena

2016

Body Labs, Inc.

New York

2010

Brain Innovation B.V.

Maastricht

1996

The Captury GmbH

Saarbrücken

2013

CarbonVision GmbH

Unterschleissheim

2009

DOK Predictive Motion Cueing GmbH

Tübingen

2019

Dodecon Nanotechnology GmbH

Stuttgart

2005

ECMTEC GmbH (now: EMAG ECM GmbH)

Holzgerlingen

2003

FAccTs GmbH

Köln

2016

Ecobus GmbH

Göttingen

2021

Epiray GmbH

Stuttgart

2021

Fountain Hydrothermal Technology GmbH

München

2018

hte AG

Heidelberg

1999

Image Science Software GmbH

Berlin

1990

Intelligent Imaging Solutions GmbH

Tübingen

2012

K | Lens GmbH

Saarbrücken

2016

KonTem GmbH (now: FEI)

Bonn

2011

Linnowave GmbH

Erlangen

2018

Lumics GmbH

Berlin

2000

MenloSystems GmbH

Martinsried

2001

Meshcapade GmbH

Tübingen

2018

Nanofilm Technologie GmbH => now: Accurion GmbH

Göttingen

1991

Nanopta GmbH

Lonsee

2018

Neaspec GmbH

Martinsried

2007

PreSens - Precision Sensing GmbH

Regensburg

1997

Rapid Sampling Technologies AG

Magdeburg

2005

terraplasma GmbH

München

2011

Terraplasma emission control GmbH

Garching

2018

UltraLumina GmbH

Erlangen

2016

 

Top products from cutting-edge research

International Network

Max Planck Innovation has been in business for about 50 years. During this time, it has shaped technology transfer substantially. We have established a strong network within the scientific community and industry, comprising professional investors, lawyers, patent attorneys and tax consultants, as well as scientific experts and company representatives from various sectors of industry. We have closed contracts with more than 200 different companies and negotiated seed funding rounds for spin-offs from the Max Planck Society with more than 35 investors.

Our experience and contacts are the fundamental components of our success. We use them to provide optimal support for the scientists and company founders of the Max Planck Institutes, but also to contribute to political debate. In this respect Max Planck Innovation has contributed to novel concepts of the federal government in order to improve the innovation strength of Germany.

Likewise, we are in close contact with other technology transfer institutions, exchanging ideas for the development of professional standards and advancing novel instruments for technology transfer – both at national and international level – for example, as members of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the Association of European Science & Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP), the Licensing Executives Society (LES), and TransferAllianz.