Washington, D.C. - The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released a report on the significant economic impact of university and non-profit institution patent licensing on the U.S. economy.
"This report provides further evidence that America's technology transfer system established by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 is a key underpinning of our innovation economy," stated BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood.
Bayh-Dole enables the patenting and commercialization of federally-funded university and non-profit institution research. Bringing these discoveries from the lab to the marketplace creates new products, new jobs and new companies that expand the economy and improve the nation's health and quality of life.
The study documents the sizeable return that U.S. taxpayers receive on their investment through the Bayh-Dole Act.
Between 1996 and 2010, the economic impact of university and nonprofit institution patent licensing included:
· The impact on U.S. gross industry output is as much as $836 billion.
· The impact on U.S. GDP is as much as $388 billion.
· University and nonprofit licensing supported as many as 3 million jobs.
· In 2010 alone, academic and nonprofit research institutions spun out 651 new companies.
"The ties between biotechnology and university research have always been critical. Most biotech companies license technologies from nonprofit organizations," Greenwood continued. "The continuation of this relationship - along with a strong, dependable patent system and flexible licensing practices - is essential to maintaining America's global leadership in biotech innovation."
The basic science that led to the development by the biotech industry of many life-saving medicines began with federally-funded research, including vaccines against hepatitis B and cervical cancer, cancer medicines, and human growth hormones.
"Federally-funded research and the incentives of Bayh-Dole lay the foundation for these successes, but turning basic discoveries into breakthrough medicines, cleaner energy, and enhanced crops takes years of hard work by entrepreneurial companies and investors willing to risk billions of dollars to fund that development," Greenwood concluded.
The report was commissioned by BIO and authored by Lori Pressman, David Roessner, Jennifer Bond, Sumiye Okubo, and Mark Planting. It is available at http://www.bio.org/articles/economic-contribution-universitynonprofit-inventions-united-states-1996-2010 
