Bioentrepreneurship and technology transfer should be encouraged in all healthcare organizations, not just academic medical centers. In most academic medical centers, technology transfer is big business. According to the latest Association of University Technology Managers survey, technology transfer and licensing revenues continue to grow.[1] For example, institutions launched 23.5% more start-ups in fiscal year 2004 than in fiscal year 2003. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of healthcare knowledge workers, particularly those in nonacademic settings, participate in the process.
We need to encourage bioentrepreneurship for several reasons.
First, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980,[2] granting universities the right to own, license, and market federally funded discoveries, requires reasonable efforts to commercialize technologies.
Second, while pure basic science research has value, discoveries and inventions cannot help patients unless they make it into the marketplace. In addition, licenses, patents, and research agreements with industry provide a much needed source of revenue. According to the Milken Institute,[3] for every $1 invested in technology transfer staff, the university receives about $6 of licensing revenue.
Finally, it is important to maximize the social and global health impact of technologies.[4,5]
To encourage biomedical technology transfer, I believe we should do several things.
First, knowledge workers in healthcare need to be taught the fundamentals of technology transfer, including basics of intellectual property, early-stage technology finance, regulatory and reimbursement rules, and marketing.
Second, policies and procedures should create incentives for all healthcare workers, not just those in academic settings, to innovate.
Finally, institutional barriers to innovation should be removed.
While the public is infatuated with the breathtaking advances in pharmaceutical and medical devices, Bayh-Dole is under attack, and healthcare knowledge workers have been slow to create cultures of innovation. Biomedical entrepreneurship should be encouraged in all healthcare environments – not just academia.
That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Arlen D. Meyers, professor of Otolaryngology and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado and editor-in-chief for eMedicine's Otolaryngology.
Footnotes
Readers are encouraged to respond to the author at arlen.meyers@uchsc.edu or to Paul Blumenthal, MD, Deputy Editor of MedGenMed, for the editor's eyes only or for possible publication via email: pblumen@stanford.edu
References
- 1.The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) FY 2004 licensing survey. Available at: http://www.autm.net/surveys/dsp.surveyDetail.cfm?pid=28 Accessed February 5, 2007.
- 2. Bayh-Dole Act. 35 U.S.C. § 200–212. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh-Dole_Act#endnote_35USC200212 Accessed February 5, 2007.
- 3.Balakrishnan U, Troyer L, Brands E. Surveying the need for technology management for global health training programs. J Assoc University Technol Managers. 2006;XVIII:53–68. [Google Scholar]
- 4.Milken Institute. Available at: www.milkeninstitute.org Accessed February 1, 2007.
- 5.Mimura C. Technology licensing for the benefit of the developing world: UC Berkeley's socially responsible licensing program. J Assoc University Technol Managers. 2006;XVIII:15–28. [Google Scholar]