British Technology Group

BTG plc (LSE: BGC) is a public limited company specialising in the licensing and commercialisation of medical innovations. It trades as BTG International Inc. in the United States and as BTG International Ltd. in the United Kingdom¹. The latter name arose as the result of the British Technology Group Ltd changing its name on 27 May 1998², having itself been formed by the UK government merging two public-research management bodies.

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History

In 1948, the National Research Development Corporation was formed with the purpose of commercialising innovations that arose from publicly funded research³. This was complemented in November 1975 by the establishment of the National Enterprise Board to implement the then-Government's policy of moving public sector industry into commercial private enterprise⁴.

These two organisations were merged by the Government in 1981 to form a new, non-statutory body called the British Technology Group⁵. It acted principally as a technology transfer company, licensing and commercialising the use of publicly-funded developments. The Group was put onto a statutory footing in the British Technology Group Act, 1991⁶ with HM Treasury initially being the only shareholder. Subsequently, in March 1992, Cinven arranged a management buy-out from the Government. The company later floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1995³. Three years later, on 27 May 1998, the Group adopted its present name. It now focuses its work on developing and commercialising medical innovations³.

Since acquiring the commercialisation rights to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (under a revenue share scheme) in 1983, BTG has come to license a large part of the world market in MRI, including licensees such as General Electric and Philips⁷.

See also

• Medical research
• National Enterprise Board

References

1. Contact page for BTGplc giving the various names it trades under.
2. Companies House details.
3. Overview of BTG International's history.
4. Elizabeth II (1975, c. 63). The Industry Act, 1975. HM Stationery Office. ISBN 0-10-546875-4. 
5. Abstract of Department of Trade and Industry report "Monitoring of British Technology Group".
6. Elizabeth II (1991, c. 66). The British Technology Group Act, 1991. The Stationery Office Books. ISBN 0-10-546691-3. 
7. Case study of BTG's MRI licensing.
8. Preliminary financial results for 2005.

External link

• BTG Plc's website