1. Evaluating the Commercialization of Health Research – Methodological Challenges Marc Turcotte, Nicola Lauzon & Laura McAuley Strategic Policy and External Relations Canadian Institutes of Health Research November 5th, 2011 marc.turcotte@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

2. 2 Presentation Overview Project Details Rationale Purpose & Objectives Literature review Methods Challenges Encountered Resolutions Next Steps & Feedback

3. 3 Project Details Project Rationale CIHR's Strategic Priorities 1.Invest in world class research 2.Address health and health system research priorities 3.Accelerate the capture of health and economic benefits of health research 4.Achieve organizational excellence, foster ethics and demonstrate impact

4. 4 Project Details Purpose To evaluate the extent to which publically funded health research discoveries are commercialized by Canadian researchers. Objectives To describe the type, extent and value of intellectual property (IP) protection and commercialization; To describe the facilitators and barriers to IP protection and commercialization; To describe the range of support available to researchers from university or university-affiliated technology transfer offices (TTO).

5. 5 Project Details Literature Review No existing survey applicable to this project Protection of intellectual property (IP) is an important first step in the commercialization process Motivators, facilitators and barriers differ by discipline

6. 6 Project Details Methods IP database review Electronic survey Telephone interviews Environmental scan of TTO support services Case studies

7. 7 Challenges Encountered: Patent Database Review Purpose of database review To identify health related patents and Canadian inventors Database classification International Patent Classification (IPC) Challenge IPC system does not classify patents into a “health” category

8. Resolution: IPC to identify ‘health’ Percent of patents related to health within each IPC section 8

9. 9 Challenges Encountered: Electronic Survey Sample Generating a sample Search query IPC codes in Sections A, B, or C Canadian inventor or assignee Granted between January 1 st, 2001 and January 1 st, 2011 Granted by the USPTO or EPO 16,791 Canadian inventors or assignees Challenge No personal contact information

10. 10 Resolution: Cross-referencing names Cross-reference with CIHR database Contact information from CIHR applicants 2011 CIHR researchers Challenge Small sample size Is John Smith in CIHR database the same John Smith in the patent database?

11. 11 Conclusions Questions & Feedback