Technology transfer: taking a creative approach

The term ‘technology transfer professional’ includes myriad professionals in academia and industry who are responsible for managing the assessment, protection, marketing and transfer of scientific findings from one organisation to another, for the purpose of further product development and commercialisation.

We have law degrees, graduate degrees in a wide variety of sciences and engineering, or MBAs, and we work in offices as varied as our institutions are diverse, but we have one common goal: to ensure the successful transfer of technologies developed in university laboratories to commercial entities, so that they reach the public as new products and processes across all disciplines and industries.

As president of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the largest association of technology transfer professionals in the world, I’ve watched (and participated in my own office) with great interest as the effects of the world economic downturn on our profession have unfolded. This is an exciting and challenging time for academic technology transfer.

It should surprise no-one that the economic downturn continues to have a tremendous impact on universities. Our institutions are cutting back in numerous ways due to reductions in endowments and, for those of us who are publicly funded, loss of state financial support.

In addition, federal funding for research is flat, and is likely to remain that way for the near future. The level of federal funding for basic research is what differentiates the US from the rest of the world and provides the lifeblood for the new inventions and technologies that come from our academic laboratories.

The work of technology transfer offices

Technology transfer offices work with their institutions’ faculty and staff to identify new innovations. The first notice of an innovation often arrives at the technology transfer office in the form of an invention disclosure.

The technology transfer office evaluates the invention disclosure to determine the technology’s commercial potential, protect IP through patents and other methods, seek licensees and execute agreements that support commercialisation. The AUTM Licensing Activity Survey is our annual report that tracks licensing income and startup activity.

The survey looked at licensing activity through fiscal year 2010—disclosures were flat in 2009 and 2010. Is this because of the slowdown in increases in federal funding? Is this a portent for the future raw material for our members? Only time will tell, but we must continue to educate our inventors on the value of their research and the overall technology transfer process.

“THE NEW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY PORTAL IS A ‘ONE-STOP SHOP’ FOR HELPING FACILITATE LICENCE AGREEMENTS, COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AGREEMENTS, AND INVESTMENTS OR PARTNERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS FOR UNIVERSITY STARTUPS.”

The responsibilities of academic technology transfer offices are rapidly increasing and diversifying, in particular as the focus from both federal and state level on creating startups has increased. Many of our offices manage entrepreneurial activities ranging from assisting faculty startups in a variety of ways (business planning, help with seeking finance, legal assistance, etc), through employing mentors or entrepreneurs in residence for day-to-day advice, all the way to managing business accelerator facilities.

Some offices manage translational research funds to develop early stage technologies to a more marketable stage.

While technology transfer professionals welcome and recognise the value of these newer initiatives, it is a concern that the core business of managing and licensing IP has become less visible and perhaps not as ‘glamorous’. AUTM research shows that the head count of licensing professionals in technology transfer offices is down. Patent budgets and gross expenditures are down.

The fact is that without a vibrant and competent group of licensing professionals in an office, deals may not be done in a timely and professional manner and expenditures on entrepreneurial activities may be wasted.

Because technology transfer offices work with early stage innovations, it often takes years before a product hits the market.

Along with technology transfer professionals, many in the industry and the investment community are concerned about increased, or inconsistent, government regulations for product approvals, which continue to slow the speed at which therapeutics make it to the market—in particular, and most recently, medical devices and diagnostics.

Investors are leaving the healthcare sector due to the time it takes for a return on their investment to come through, if ever, for ‘safer’ investment sectors such as IT, communications and energy.

Many venture capitalists are running from the US market, and others are working with European and other markets. A recent article in Bloomberg Business Week points out that life sciences venture capitalists are, increasingly, focusing on later stage innovations. Where will the funds come from for the further development of early stage life sciences technologies? Who will be willing to take the long-term risk to stay in this business?

The National Institute for Health has made some changes to its financial conflict of interest regulations. These changes expand, and add transparency to, investigators’ disclosure of significant financial interests, with new public websites going online this summer.

Although they enhance regulatory compliance and affect institutional oversight and management of investigators’ financial conflicts of interests, as well as increase the Department of Health and Human Services’ compliance oversight, they may cast a chill over entrepreneurial faculties.

Faculties are told to be entrepreneurial, yet they can be crucified in the media when they achieve success. We must continue to educate the public about the benefits of entrepreneurial activities and that conflicts of interest aren’t always ‘bad’.

It isn’t all bad news, however. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants were recently reauthorised for six years, and that’s great news for emerging companies in the early development stages of research—often university startups.

AUTM and our sister organisations, such as the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization, have advocated for reauthorisation for years, knowing that the six month or even month-to-month extensions provided in the past did not give companies the ability to plan effectively. Now they can.

In addition, allowing startups funded through venture capital to compete for SBIR/STTR grants will increase the number of new innovations available to the public, and making innovations available to the public is at the very heart of what we do. AUTM is keeping a careful eye on the new regulations associated with SBIR/STTR grants and other regulations, and will keep our members informed on how they will be affected.

Despite the harsh realities caused by the unhealthy economy, and perhaps in part due to these harsh realities, technology transfer professionals face tremendous pressures to increase licensing income and startup formation.

Not long ago, our members frequently expressed concerns that university administrations didn’t appreciate the value technology transfer brings to their institutions and local economies. We’ve worked hard to educate our stakeholders about what we do and how crucial our work is, and we continue to put time and resources into these efforts.

“IT IS A CONCERN THAT THE CORE BUSINESS OF MANAGING AND LICENSING IP HAS BECOME LESS VISIBLE AND PERHAPS NOT AS ‘GLAMOROUS’.”

As universities face budget shortfalls and struggle to find financial resources, there is increasing pressure on their struggling technology transfer offices. Expectations as they relate to jobs, income and the other impacts of technology transfer, are increasing at a rapid pace, some unrealistically. Yet, as a testament to how well our members and our industry counterparts perform under pressure, the lack of funding and increased regulatory atmosphere hasn’t devastated technology commercialisation.

We’ve seen our members get creative. We’ve witnessed more partnering among universities and industry. Now, more than ever, industries understand that they need us just as much as we need them. And there’s good news for startups. In fiscal year 2010, 651 new companies were formed as a result of university research, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year, according to the AUTM Licensing Activity Survey.

AUTM has become more creative. This year we are launching the AUTM Global Technology Portal (GTP)—a website to match companies with university technologies that are available for licensing. The GTP is a ‘one-stop shop’ for helping facilitate licence agreements, collaborative research agreements, and investments or partnership arrangements for university startups.

The portal should make it much easier for universities and corporations to find each other and begin licensing and partnership discussions. Corporations will also be able to search the portal to find universities with the research capabilities that they need and then connect with them directly. The old saying that technology transfer is a ‘contact sport’ is still valid, but now we have additional ways to make those contacts.

For years our members have asked AUTM to help them forge partnerships between universities and industry. With the increased amount of networking and partnerships among our members at universities and in industry, we’re confident this new resource will increase the commercialisation of academic technology and lead to more products that benefit everyone.

Technology transfer professionals and our industry counterparts have had to adapt to these challenging times, and the creative solutions and business practices that we’ve developed will continue to carry us through the end of this recession.

When the recession ends, we will already be that much stronger and more efficient. Our efforts, we hope, will result in a continued uptick in products on the market, more jobs for our communities and a stronger, more innovative America.

Robin Rasor is the president of AUTM, a non profit organisation of more than 3000 technology managers and business executives. For more information, visit www.autm.net