Discover innoLIFE - Healthcare maturation fund
Discover the innolife awarded projects 2024
APPLY BY FEBRUARY 10th, 2025!
NEXT SUBMISSION DEADLINE : Monday 10th february 2025
WHY innoLIFE ?
Academic inventions are often too early stage to be licensed to companies. This is especially true of inventions in the healthcare sector (pharma, biotech and medtech), where products are highly regulated and therefore the path to market is extremely long and costly. Given the high costs and risks of this type of project, a solid proof of concept is essential to de-risk the project before it can interest potential industrial partners or venture capitalists.
WHAT IS innoLIFE ?
Each year, Unitec awards a maximum of two innoLIFE subsidies of up to CHF 100,000 each for the maturation of inventions developed at UNIGE in the healthcare field.
The innoLIFE fund is fed by income from licenses granted by the UNIGE to third parties for the commercial exploitation of technologies developed at the UNIGE.
WHAT PROJECTS CAN BE FINANCED BY innoLIFE SUBSIDIES?
innoLIFE subsidies exclusively support projects with applications in the healthcare sector (pharma, biotech or medtech), whether through the creation of a spin-off or through a license to an existing company.
innoLIFE is designed to finance primarily the acquisition of goods and/or services, either from UNIGE technology platforms or from external third parties. For example:
- the acquisition of compounds, libraries or services for molecular screening;
- acquisition of preclinical services (ADME/tox, PK studies);
- generation of antibodies or siRNA against a therapeutic target;
- prototyping or development of software/interfaces for a medical device, etc.
innoLIFE may exceptionally cover salaries if :
- there is no other source of funding available for the project; and
- the project is well-defined and specifically aimed at technology transfer; and
- the project deliverables are precisely defined
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- The project is mainly developed at UNIGE, by UNIGE employees.
- It is a high-potential project in the healthcare field (pharma, biotech, medtech).
- The project directly relates to an Active Unitec Case at the time of submission of the innoLIFE application. "Active Unitec Case" refers to an invention that has been disclosed to Unitec, which has assessed it for patentability and commercial potential and selected it for a technology transfer project, and the corresponding intellectual property has not yet been licensed or optioned out to a third party, including a UNIGE spin-off.
- The corresponding Active Unitec Case may be co-owned with another academic institution provided that a) an inter-institutional agreement has been signed at the time of submission and b) UNIGE has at least 50% contribution and leads the technology transfer project.
- The corresponding Active Unitec Case has not yet benefitted from an innoLIFE grant.
- For start-up projects: project leader identified and coached (by Fongit, Innosuisse, Science Innovation Hub, etc.).
- Projects financed by third parties and under option to the funding body are excluded from innoLIFE.
SELECTION PROCESS
innoLIFE applications are submitted to Unitec and initially assessed by the Unitec team to determine their eligibility according to the above criteria.
Eligible applications are evaluated by two external experts and are then forwarded, together with the experts' evaluation report, to the selection committee made up of 4 members of the Unitec Board.
The final funding decisions are made by the selection committee on the basis of the experts' recommendations according to the following criteria:
- The project is realistic: it must be achievable within one year and within the requested budget.
- The project must lead to a value inflection point and significantly increase the chances of :
a) licensing the corresponding Active Unitec Case to a newly created spin-off company; or
b) licensing the corresponding Active Unitec Case to a pre-existing third party; or
c) obtaining more substantial innovation funding such as for example a BRIDGE grant or an Innosuisse grant without implementation partner (“Innovation Grants”) to further develop the Active Unitec Case towards a) or b).
All decisions related to the allocation of innoLIFE funding, including but not limited to eligibility decisions, the selection of winners, and any other related decisions, are final and cannot be appealed. No claims or disputes will be accepted or reviewed.
innoLIFE vs INNOGAP
An innoLIFE grant can be cumulative with an INNOGAP grant; INNOGAP funding generally precedes innoLIFE funding.
The prior receipt of an INNOGAP subsidy and the successful execution of the corresponding project will increase your chances of receiving an innoLIFE subsidy.
innoLIFE vs Innovation Grants
In general, innoLIFE grants are intended to precede Innovation Grants (such as BRIDGE or Innosuisse). However, innoLIFE grants can occasionally also be applied for in parallel with Innovation grants, or after completion of projects funded by Innovation Grants, if the innoLIFE funding is intended to fund activities that cannot be funded (or have not been funded) with the Innovation Grant.
CONDITIONS FOR USE OF FUNDING
- The subsidy must be used within one year and according to the budget presented in the application. Any unused funds must be returned to Unitec.
- A detailed report describing the results obtained and the use of the grant must be sent to your Unitec manager within one month of the end of the project. (Reporting template)
HOW TO APPLY ?
Download and complete the innoLIFE grant application form.
The completed form should be sent to along with a copy to the Unitec associate who manages your invention.
Your Unitec case manager can help you fill in certain sections of the form, so don't hesitate to contact him/her prior to submission
***NEXT SUBMISSION DEADLINE Monday 10th February 2025***
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, please contact (022 379 0353) or your Unitec case manager.