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WSU Technology Commercialization and TechTown WSU PAD SEMINAR March 6, 2009
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WSU Technology Commercialization Who, why, what, when and where
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WSU Technology Commercialization Technology Transfer Office Anne Di Sante and team Venture Development Office Eric Stief and team TechTown and Economic Development Randal Charlton-Executive Director Judy Johncox- Director of Business Services TechTown team
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Technology Commercialization goals and how you benefit Advancing discoveries to benefit society, WSU and researchers. The basic process of invention management The “win-win-win” of technology transfer Structure of Technology Commercialization Technology Transfer Office Venture Development Office
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Technology Commercialization Invention development grants Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (MIIE) New Economy Initiative (NEI) Internal grants for further development of selected inventions
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Recent WSU TC statistics 50 Invention disclosures/year 15 License or option agreements/year $2 million/year in licensing revenue $600K/year in patent expenses (40% reimbursed) 1-3 start-up companies/year 7 professional staff; 5 support staff
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Royalty distribution Inventors receive 35-75% of revenue Inventor’s department receives 15% WSU and Technology Commercialization receive the remainder of funds Funds used to support research and Technology Commercialization operations $3.0 million provided to support research in past five years
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Technology Transfer Office Invention examples: compounds, new materials, devices, software, processes Most commercially viable technologies are medical, engineering, chemistry, pharmaceuticals Inventions made by PIs, Post-docs, RAs, and graduate students Forms of intellectual property protection
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Patent Protection What is a patent? How does an invention qualify? Who writes the patent application? How long does it take to get a patent? How much does it cost to get a patent? How many patents does WSU own?
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Invention Management Marketing of inventions Negotiating license agreements Scientist to scientist relationship is key Licensee relationship Probability of success and vast riches Role of the inventor
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Technology Transfer Office Other services Material Transfer Agreements Non-disclosure/Confidentiality agreements Advice on working with companies Sunshine Act requests to Board of Governors Orphan agreements
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Venture Development Office Technology development and the start- up option How we assist entrepreneurs in the early stages Challenges with high technology spin-out companies coming from universities Technology, management and $$$$$
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Venture Development Office Technology is always transferred by a license, even to a start-up WSU may receive license and milestone fees, royalties, and equity Managing conflicts of interest for the faculty entrepreneur and institution Angel and venture capital investors Gap and seed funding opportunities E2 Challenge and student entrepreneurs
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”Platform Technologies” Game changing for an industry Not a one trick pony Target market is high growth and/or high profit Clear business model apparent Sub point – the “lifestyle” company
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Past WSU Start-ups Ash Stevens – pharmaceuticals Lumigen – chemiluminescent markers TherOx* – super-oxygenated fluids SciClone – Zadaxin for hepatitis DNA Software* – DNA/RNA research tools Neomatrix* – breast cancer diagnostics Sensound* – “Sound as we see it” EXT Life Sciences* – dermatology drugs nSEC* – clay-based nano-composites * denotes WSU equity position
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MICROBIOTIX A product-focused, small molecule, anti-infective company
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EXT Life Sciences
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DNA Software
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Lumigen Lumigen APS-5 Lumi-Phos PlusLumigen PS-3
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TherOx Blood Platelets
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WSU supports economic development Many state-wide programs MI Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship MI Economic Development Corp Great Lakes Entrepreneur Quest MichBio Smart Zones WSU and TechTown
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TechTown E2 Detroit program Entrepreneurial education at WSU SmartStart program at TechTown Industry interactions generated by TechTown TechTown resources and operations Incubation of high-to-low tech start-ups Diverse tenant roster
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TechTown Advantages of a community of start-ups WSU-TechTown efforts to create a seed fund for start-ups Other TechTown-related funding sources such as the Pre-seed fund Unique TechTown programs Childrens’ BioTrust Chinese Business Club
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