Deals by universities to license their academics' inventions and discoveries to industry have surged by almost 200 per cent, even as the number of spin-out companies has fallen for the third year running, according to a report published yesterday.

The shift shows that British universities are becoming more like their US counterparts, according to the report's authors. US universities and colleges have produced fewer companies per research dollar than the UK in recent years but have been far more successful in securing lucrative licensing deals for their innovations and technology.