Academic entrepreneurs from Cambridge, Switzerland, Finland and Israel were recognised in the third annual ACES awards in Zurich.

The Life Sciences Award was given to Sabine Bahn and Chris Lowe at the University of Cambridge, UK, co-founders of Psynova Neurotech Ltd. The company is developing novel biomarkers that can help improve the diagnosis of psychiatric illnesses, and has built up a portfolio of 20 patent families.

Its first product, VeriPsych, is the first and only blood test to aid psychiatrists in the diagnosis of recent-onset schizophrenia. The number of individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is forecast to rise globally from 33 million in 2000 to 36 million in 2015. Psychiatric disorders are currently poorly and subjectively diagnosed, the judges noted, so the potential social impact of Psynova’s work is high.

In the Materials/Chemistry category, the prize went to Carlos Ludlow from the University of Cambridge, UK, founder of Enval Ltd. Enval’s technology closes the recycling loop for laminated packaging waste. The company is commercialising waste recycling and environmental technologies that can recover clean aluminium from  packaging waste such as toothpaste tubes. The recovered aluminium can, in turn, be resmelted.

Twenty customers worldwide are testing Enval’s technology, which provides the first alternative to dumping such waste in landfill. In Europe alone, Enval could treat an estimated 2 million tonnes of waste per annum which would otherwise be sent to landfill. The judges were impressed by Enval’s technology and large commercial potential.

Winners include entrepreneurs who developed waste recycling technology for laminated materials, a fault current limiter for electricity grids, low-cost molecular assays for the early diagnosis of schizophrenia, a barcode scanning application for smart phones that allow consumers to compare products and prices while shopping, and therapy software for dyslexia and other learning disabilities.

The ACES is a pan-European competition among companies spun out from universities – to recognise the best academic entrepreneurs from across all technology disciplines. 

The competition is open to entrepreneurs in the European Union and countries affiliated with European Union’s 7th Framework Programme for research, including Israel and Russia. This year, the ACES drew nominations from Europe to Bashkorostan and culminated in an awards ceremony hosted by the ETH Zurich.

The ACES Awards 2011 are sponsored by the GE, Foley & Lardner LLP, ETH Zurich, the Office for Economy and Labour of the Canton of Zurich, the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency of the Swiss Confederation, and the Innovation Board. This year’s ACES conference was also supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Psynova Neurotech founder Chris Lowe