These points are from an interview of Jane Muir by IP
Watchdog. She is the Director of the
Florida Innovation Hub at University of Florida and is presently the President
of the AUTM.
1. It is important to understand that the process of
technology transfer, going from lab discoveries to marketplace takes a long
time, which in biotech can be 5 to 10 years. It is also a complex process consisting
of discovery, patenting, licensing and putting the technology on the market
place.
2. The valley of death: the majority of discoveries in
universities are early stage. They are patentable but not yet a ‘product’. The valley of death is the process of getting
a product through the development stage to market.
3. Universities are restricted in what they can research (by
the terms of available funding), and often cannot do development work. Government will tend to direct research money
to solving problems that the nation faces.
4. Universities have to choose their commercial partner carefully,
agreeing milestones that ensure that development happens in the right way. Tech transfer offices are often challenged in
finding the resources to look for the best partners.
5. It has to be recognised that getting a technology to
market is difficult and requires very different skills to those that scientists
(or patent attorneys) have.
You may also wish to see related articles Patent
Advice for Tech Transfer Offices and Advice
to Scientists Setting up a Company.
No comments:
Post a Comment