Cultivating Entrepreneurship in the Department - Next Pharma Phenomenon

Research and Entrepreneurship go hand in hand. The University of Cambridge has a very strong track record in this regard - with various initiatives active throughout the University, such as CamEntrepreneurs.

The Department is committed to supporting the start-up ambitions of its members - most recently demonstrated with the Next Pharma Phenomenon (NPP) event we ran, organised by Mark Howarth of the Howarth Group.

The NPP event aimed to "increase awareness of entrepreneurship and help people explore the potential of research from the groups here" in a "relaxed and encouraging" environment, where participants can explore ideas and gain new skills. Two sessions were held:

• An introduction session in October, onboarding participants on what is needed to form a spin-out, how to assemble  a pitch-deck and an overview of Cambridge Enterprise
• A pitch event in November, where teams give a 10-minute pitch to a panel of judges and the audience, with audience members voting on the best start-up concept

The NPP event concluded with the following winners:

Judge-rated:

Arachne Therapeutics

• Tony Lim
• Deepak Chand
• Anthony Keeble
• Lasya Vakayala

Audience favourite

BioCondenza Therapeutics

• Chris Ng
• Chloe Burgess
• Connor Macfarlane
• Yawei Qi
• William Murphy

Best Question

• Connor Macfarlane