University Technologies International (UTI), the University of Calgary’s technology transfer unit, signed an exclusive license agreement with California-based chemical company Materia, Inc. to commercialize olefin metathesis catalysts developed by a university researcher. This deal is an expansion of the 2004 agreement between UTI and Materia under which the company provided funding and research materials for studies in the lab of inventor Dr. Warren Piers. Materia was founded in 1998 to commercialize olefin metathesis catalyst technology, which “enables chemical compounds to be synthesized with greater efficiency, under less stringent reaction conditions, and with reduced byproducts and hazardous waste,” the company says. “Metathesis has been accepted as an emerging ‘green technology’ platform and has been broadly adopted by the pharmaceutical, chemical, and polymer industries.” The catalysts produced by Dr. Piers are more active and have a faster rate of initiation than some other catalysts, allowing for manipulation of carbon-carbon bonds at lower temperatures, potentially decreasing energy consumption and enhancing cost-effectiveness. Go to: Marketwire

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

The University of Alabama-Birmingham announced last week that its research foundation will collect at least $11 million from a settlement with a drug company over disputed pharmaceutical patents. The payment will be coming from Massachusetts-based Idenix Pharmaceuticals, which UAB sued last year. The university claimed a former professor who founded Idenix made off with university patents to treat hepatitis, herpes, HIV, and other viruses. The lawsuit charged that former faculty member Jean Pierre Sommadossi formed Idenix after learning about promising viral research conducted by a UAB colleague, and that the university owns all patents that stemmed from the research. The drug maker has already ponied up $4 million to the university in up-front payments to settle the matter, and UAB will receive a 20% royalty on worldwide sales of telbivudine, an antiviral drug used to treat hepatitis B. The drug is marketed under the trade name TYZEKA by pharma giant Novartis, which paid $255 million to acquire 51% of Idenix in 2003. Minimum payments required through 2019, when the agreement expires, total $11 million, but could go much higher depending on sales of the agent. Go to: The Birmingham News

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

The University of Washington and Allied Minds — a seed investment firm specializing in university technologies — are joining forces to launch a company based on a UW scientist’s invention of new process for creating “commercially advantageous” strains of algae to make biofuels. The start-up, AXI, LLC, will develop the technology as a methodology that can “help any algal production system improve its output of inexpensive, oil-rich algae as the raw material for the generation of biofuel,” said inventor and UW biology professor Rose Ann Cattolico. According to the Allied Minds, the new company’s algal strains “will bridge the gap between the promise of clean energy generation and the reality of economical biofuel production systems.” Company officials say algae is emerging as “the clear winner” among feedstocks that can be used for biodiesel “because significant biomass can be produced on non-arable lands (thus avoiding the food vs. fuel debate),” and greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is absorbed to support algae growth. “This technology will permit the economic use of clean algae as a viable replacement to petroleum-based fuels,” said Allied Minds CEO Christopher Silva. The investment firm is providing initial start-up funding. Go to: AutoblogGreen

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

Sci-fi notions of invisibility may not be merely B-movie imaginings for much longer. University of California, Berkeley scientists have developed material that has the potential to bend light around objects — including people — to make them invisible. Initial applications envisioned are military — making tanks, buildings, and even individual infantrymen disappear from view, for example. In tests, researchers from UC-Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were able to construct a prism that bent light “the wrong way” and thus allowing an object appear to vanish. The results were published last week in the online versions of the journals Nature and Science. Similar techniques using microwaves, which are much easier to control, were demonstrated two years ago, but this is the first time that they have been successfully carried out in three dimensions with visible light. “This straightforward and elegant demonstration enhances our ability to mould and harness light at will,” the researchers said in a statement. “Invisibility cloaks [have gotten] a step closer to realization.” The prism used to bend the light was made from metamaterials, substances artificially created using nano-engineering. The material bent the light waves in the opposite direction they are normally refracted through a glass prism. This “negative refraction,” thought to be impossible with naturally occurring materials, was enabled by the fishnet-like silver nanowires used to create metamaterials. Researchers believe the technique can now be developed to create an invisibility cloak that would direct light waves around an object, essentially hiding it because no reflected light would give away its position. Go to: Times Online

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Innovation of the Week, Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

Researchers whose work is labeled “Mickey Mouse science” may take great offense, but not so for a group from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). Disney announced a major R&D initiative with the two institutions to create collaborative labs and develop new entertainment technologies. CMU and ETH Zurich are both renowned for their leading-edge work in computer science, including entertainment applications. The new labs will connect Disney with these top-tier academic partners in developing computer animation, computational cinematography, autonomous interactive characters, robotics, and user interfaces, among other initiatives. Each lab — one in Pittsburgh and one in Zurich — gets a five-year commitment from Disney to fund a director and seven to eight principal investigators. Jessica Hodgins, CMU professor of computer science and robotics and director of Disney Research, Pittsburgh, said one of the lab’s first projects will be developing methods for people to interact with autonomous characters, either virtual or robotic. “We’ll be looking for ways to sense what a person is doing or thinking so that the character can respond appropriately,” she said. “Whether the character is a robot or a virtual creation, the interaction issues are the same. We need to figure out what sensors to build and how to interpret and respond to human behavior.” Professor Markus Gross, Head of ETH Zurich’s Computer Graphics Laboratory, called the collaboration with Disney “on the cusp of the cutting-edge.” He said the institute’s focus will be on “novel algorithms to bring both traditional animation and 3D computer animation to the next level of perfection.” Go to: BusinessWire

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

Are your cooperative research agreements in compliance with the CREATE Act? The 2004 U.S. law spells out the legal means to protect your IP from losing its patentability through disclosure to research partners at outside institutions. But ensuring your research agreements fall within the Act’s safe harbor is not as simple as labeling all collaborations “joint research agreements” and filing those documents away. Some TTOs have begun routinely including CREATE Act language in their licensing and confidentiality agreements to provide blanket coverage, but the blanket may have some holes in it, experts say. “In limited cases, there may be some benefit. But in my opinion, such language will not likely have the desired effect,” comments Alan Bentley, director of commercialization in the Cleveland Clinic’s Office of Innovations. “Rarely are license agreements relied upon to cover research collaborations between licensor and licensee, which would include specifying a statement of work and research budget with overhead.”

Jim Reed, an attorney with San Francisco’s Squire Sanders & Dempsey, says TTOs should follow two basic rules when drafting agreements for CREATE Act coverage: use the exact words that appear in the statute to define your JRA, “and state an intent that the agreement qualify as a JRA under 35 U.S.C. § 103(c).” Even when legal guidelines are followed, however, that Act offers less than certain safety because of its ill-defined restrictions regarding research that may not yet have a clear application or field of use, he cautions. “The Act’s requirement that qualifying JRAs be within the ‘field of the claimed invention’ seems to present the most uncertain aspect of whether the Act can apply,” Reed comments. “It assumes a priori knowledge of the universe of inventions that might arise from the research — especially for inventions that are made unilaterally by a party to the agreement. On the one hand, disclosing parties will naturally be reluctant to define the research field very broadly; in the case of publicly funded research, that may not even be an option. On the other hand, if the field is defined too narrowly, whether intentionally or as a condition for receiving the research grant, the Act may not provide the safe harbor originally expected for patents pursued in the future.” The full article describing CREATE Act compliance issue and specific recommendations appears in the August issue of Technology Transfer Tactics. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

A Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) administrator has invented and patented what he claims is the world’s first motorcycle safety system — complete with airbag — and has won the Louisiana Business and Technology Center Phase Zero award to commercialize it. William Belisle, PhD, patented his Motorcycle Airbag Protection System (MAPS) in 2000 and has now been working on the concept for more than a decade. He says the innovation is best suited for law enforcement agencies, security entities, and military users. Ultimately, he hopes MAPS will also provide safety and protection for consumers, surpassing the helmet as a primary safety device for motorcyclists. Belisle is SUNO’s Director of Grants and Research and an environmental chemist. Under the research grant, a precursor for SBIR/STTR Phase I funding, he will help the U.S. Department of Transportation equip motorcycles with “crash-causing data collection devices” to support the use of MAPS as a means of reducing motorcycle-related deaths and injuries. Belisle is working with the university’s College of Business and Public Administration on the marketing and commercialization of the MAPS. His patent describes the system as a bullet-, fire-, explosion-, and radiation-proof enclosure featuring environmental controls and airbag. It has a mechanized raising and lowering device, lighting devices, mirrors, enclosure wipers, and defogging and deicing systems. Go to: The Louisianna Weekly

Posted August 20th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: 1 ]

BizWorld Inc., the parent company of Tech Transfer e-News and Technology Transfer Tactics, is offering a complimentary preview of the world’s first and only monthly newsletter exclusively devoted to successful IP marketing: Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. This “how to,” practical periodical is written for tech transfer, research commercialization, and licensing professionals. Its mission is to help build marketing capabilities and expertise by providing expert strategies, case studies, and best practices in IP marketing. Each article is carefully targeted to help TTOs and other organizations find and attract more licensees for their IP, bring in more revenue, and promote their efforts among researchers, administrators, and other key stakeholders. “This monthly guidance will help spur the commercialization of innovations and other IP,” said Bizworld Chairman and Publisher Leslie Norins, MD, PhD. “The need is greatest in the academic and government research sectors. Their budgets are under pressure. But they’ve got cabinets full of invention disclosures and patented innovations just gathering dust — and bringing in no royalties. More effective, aggressive marketing is the ‘missing link’ in the commercialization chain that will bring in more licenses, and more royalty revenue.” Tech Transfer e-News subscribers can receive the inaugural issue without cost or obligation, plus sign up to receive it companion weekly e-zine, IP Marketing e-News, by CLICKING HERE.

Posted August 13th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

Four of the UK’s National Health Service hospitals and a leading university there disclosed plans for a £2 billion business partnership to create the largest biomedical research organization in Europe. The venture — to be called UCL Partners — seeks to establish London as an intellectual powerhouse for the invention of new drugs and treatments. It is being set up by University College London, its sister facility UCL Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Royal Free Hampstead Hospital. The five organizations have combined revenues of about £2 billion. They treat more than 1.5 million patients a year and employ more than 3,500 scientists, senior researchers and consultants. In a joint statement, the partners said: “By pooling resources and expertise we will be able to produce more world-class research in key areas, including cancer and heart disease, and deliver the benefits more rapidly to patients.” The partnership is designed to address concern that Britain will not be able to compete in a global research market without stronger collaboration between academic and healthcare institutions. The UCL partnership will become operational next month, focusing initially on nervous system diseases, children’s health, heart disease, transplantation, immunology, ophthalmology, deafness and hearing impairment, dental and oral disease, cancer, and women’s health. “We have chosen to concentrate on these areas because in all of them we are already leading the way in the UK or Europe,” said Malcolm Grant, president and provost of UCL. “Our goal is to build on that reputation and become genuinely world-class in as many of those areas as possible.” Go to: The Guardian

Posted August 13th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

Michael Pazzani and Dave Allen, tech transfer leaders from Rutgers University and University of Colorado, respectively, have each overseen dramatic turnarounds of their TTOs’ performance. They’ve streamlined processes, cut paperwork, speeded response time, and boosted staff productivity — and their efforts have paid off handsomely in the form of more license agreements and dramatic increases in revenues. We’ve arranged for both of these TTO veterans to share the details of their strategies and tactics in a special audioconference presentation: “Performance improvement strategies and techniques for tech transfer offices: Boost efficiency and get more accomplished every day.” The live session will be held Tuesday, August 26, 2008, from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. eastern daylight time. You’ll learn how these two leading TTOs assess their performance, then use those results to guide improvements in processes and productivity — and ultimately boost their results in terms of licenses, start-ups, cost reductions, faculty service, and revenues. For full program details or to register, CLICK HERE.

Posted August 13th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

A new database of venture capital firms, built by a VC exec and available online without charge, offers TTOs a handy way to scour the investment world for start-up funding and target prospects based on region or even ties to the university. Matt Winn, associate at Louisville, KY-based Chrysalis Ventures, says the Venture Capital Data Base (VCDB) contains information on 492 VCs at 863 locations, and includes 6,773 investment professionals. The search features of the research tool allow users to find all VCs in a particular location, or even all professionals with your university name in their bio. Matching firms appear on a map, and an accompanying listing directory enables access to firms’ websites, e-mail addresses, locations, investment parameters (assets under management, minimum investment, and maximum investment), as well as professionals’ bios and blogs. Go to: punctuative!

Posted August 13th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

CleveX Inc., a Cleveland Clinic medical device spin-out, has raised $1.4 million in VC funding. The round was led by Plymouth Venture Partners, which was joined by WPWIII Cap LP and the Esposito Group. The company is commercializing devices to assist in the excision of cancerous and non-cancerous skin lesions, and the financing will help it fully commercialize its lead technology, ExiClip. The surgical tool excises skin lesions and closes the resulting wound more efficiently than typical scalpel and suture procedures, the firm says, and provides patients with an excellent cosmetic result. The ExiClip received FDA 510(k) approval last year, and a pilot launch is planned for next month. The Columbus, OH-based company is seeking an additional $400K to close the financing round. Go to: Private Equity HUB

Posted August 13th, 2008 by David Schwartz under Tech Transfer. [ Comments: none ]

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