Procter & Gamble choose Auckland for discovery

Procter & Gamble choose Auckland for commercial discovery

AUCKLAND 9 December, 2005: The University of Auckland is one of just five universities around the world selected for a pilot project identifying joint commercial research opportunities with the world’s largest consumer and healthcare company, Procter & Gamble.

With total net sales of $US56.7 billion last year, Procter & Gamble currently spend $US1.8 billion on research and development and in the future intends to spend half of this budget on research originating outside its own facilities.

Announcing the project, Dr Peter Lee, CEO of the University’s commercialisation company, Auckland UniServices Limited, welcomed P&G as a leader in a new trend by industrial companies to outsource R&D and to seek innovation globally.

“That Auckland is one of only five universities participating in this pilot underlines just how highly its achievements to date are rated internationally in producing good commercial outcomes from world standard research expertise,” he says.

“We are seeing a move to a much more open model for innovation where companies broadly seek ideas and capabilities to invigorate their business.

“This creates some terrific opportunities for us to create value out of the University’s expertise, and I believe it can also create flow-on opportunities for related New Zealand industries in the long run by helping bring us all a lot closer to global giants such as P&G.”

Steve Meller, Head of Global Bioscience, Business Development at Procter & Gamble says the company has been well aware of the success of UniServices, and is delighted to be involved in the Auckland project.

“Innovation is our lifeblood, we are always looking for new ideas and new products that make consumers' lives better, and we are very pleased to be able to partner with Auckland on this project,” he says.

“We look forward to working together on opportunities for taking outstanding academic research into global markets.”

The pilot will be managed by UniServices and will begin with three students working with the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Medical and Health Sciences, and the Bioengineering Institute to identify research areas with potential overlap between work going on in the University and the company’s research “wish list”.

“We feel confident that this pilot will lead to a positive outcome for both P&G and the University in terms of new technologies being brought rapidly to the market and for continued ongoing collaborative research contracts coming back to the University.

“In the future, it is possible that the R&D relationship between P&G and the University will result in opportunities for business collaboration between local industry and this large, multi-national company,” says Dr Lee.

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