COMMERCIALIZATION CONNECT

Febuary 2018

1. Announcing "Expedited IP Track" to Streamline Sponsored Research Agreements

UK OTC and the UK Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) are excited to announce the pilot of a new “Expedited IP Track” program offering for corporate sponsored research partners hoping to minimize time and transaction costs associated with negotiating sponsored research agreements. Following the model of some other benchmark universities that have looked to streamline sponsored research, the new program aims to demonstrate UK Research’s partner-friendly culture towards corporations and other collaborative research partners. Initially, the new program will be offered to industry sponsors of sponsored research projects conducted by faculty in the College of Engineering.

 

The new program will offer a menu of standard “Expedited IP Track” options to industry sponsors, including very reasonable standard language granting different “tiers” of IP rights depending on the needs of the sponsor. The hope is that the standard presentation of reasonable options will result in time and trouble savings for both sides, alleviating the administrative burden to execute new sponsored research projects and thereby increasing the number of projects and corporate relationships that ensue from such projects.

 

“The program offering is the result of a benchmark study our office completed, looking at other institutions that do very well at creating sponsored research opportunities for their researchers. We studied similar IP program offerings at these institutions and the positive outcomes that were resulting. We then sat down with UK’s Office of Sponsored Projects Administration and other UK Research leadership, and worked together to create the program. We view IP as a partnership tool, and our goal is to employ its collaboration value to increase opportunities for UK researchers,” says Ian McClure.

 

“Having the ability to offer IP options like these to potential industry partners creates expanded, more effective tools and negotiating positions for OSPA’s discussions with industry partners. Incorporating these IP options into our negotiations will likely result in shorter timelines for finalizing agreements, and enable potential sponsors to actively chose which approach best meets their needs,” says Kim C. Carter.

 

We look forward to working with research sponsors to capitalize on the value of this program to both sides.

2. Big Pharma, Small Pharma Roundtable Discussion with OVALS

The OVALS group is a collection of university tech transfer offices from the midwest who collaborate on projects, share best practices and organize events, with the goal of increasing commercialization of university technologies. Recently the group held an industry round-table discussion in Louisville, KY, with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and US World Meds. The topic of discussion was, "How to improve relationships between pharmaceutical companies and universities, in research, innovation and commercialization."

Ian McClure, the current Chair of OVALS said, “We put this roundtable together to create an opportunity for a transparent discussion with pharma industry players in an intimate environment, focused on the respective needs and desires for collaboration between universities and industry in this space. The conversation represented perspectives of both large and small pharma companies, and highlighted specific problems and solicited proposed solutions. We hope to take this opportunity to use what we learned together and build new frameworks for partnership in commercializing early stage research”

Participating OVALS universities are: Indiana University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, and University of Louisville

3. Upcoming UK Women Innovators Network (UKWin) Event

On Friday March 2, 2018, 11am-1pm, in the Venture Studio, UKWin will host a roundtable discussion about the needs of UK women innovators, and how to address those needs programmatically, with a goal of increasing participation in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. Information will be shared about the current state of affairs, in terms of disclosures submitted, patents filed, and patents licensed, and how those metrics compare to male UK innovators.

Contact Taunya Phillips for more details.

5. UKPitch Opportunities: University Startups Demo Day and CCTS Spring Conference

There are two upcoming opportunities for UK innovators to pitch their technologies, the University Startups Demo Day and the UK Center for Clinical and Transnational Sciences (CCTS) Spring Conference.

The University Startups Conference and Demo Day is an annual meeting, May 1-2, 2018, in Washington, DC where university researchers can pitch their intellectual property or their startup company. Participants gain global exposure for their technologies, and for their universities, with Fortune 500 companies. These companies are involved in open innovation, tech scouting, research and development and corporate venturing. Also, participants have access to one-on-one meetings with companies who have a strong interest in their technology. Last year, Seth DeBolt (Plant and Soil Sciences) pitched his company, RedLeaf Biologics, and received quite a bit of attention - several one-on-one meetings - from companies and investors in the room. The registration deadline is March 2, 2018. However, only the first 200 applications are being accepted this round. Click here for more information, and to register for the demo day. This event qualifies for the OTC's UKPitch travel support program for faculty who have submitted inventions to our office.

Another opportunity to pitch your technology is at the UK CCTS Spring Conference, Friday, April 13, 2018, at the Lexington Convention Center. Those who submit abstracts will be notified of their opportunity to participate in the pitch competition, which is being run by the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship. The submission deadline is Monday, March 5, 2018. For more details, see the attached document.

6. Life Science Entrepreneurship Course Sponsored by Dr. Jack Gill

Dr. Jack Gill and his wife Linda, great supporters of UK, are again offering the Life Science Entrepreneurship course MGMT/BIOE 633, "Role of Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers in High-tech Startups.” It is an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional class, educating on the roles of scientists, engineers, MDs and MBA’s in life science entrepreneurship. The course also invites illustrious speakers to present to the students and share their stories.

Major trends and innovations driving the creation of new products in large, established companies and venture-capital-backed startup companies are discussed. This pragmatic, experienced-based course describes the venture capital process, the formation and capitalization of high-tech companies, sources of technologies, role of tech transfer at universities and medical schools, startup operational issues, role of Venture Capitalists and board members, execution time frames, the liquidity process, IPOs and mergers, and payout prospects for founders and investors.

The course is targeted toward graduate students, residents, or even faculty with an interest. It will be held online March 19 – April 24, 2018 • (mostly) Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 PM – 6 PM (CST). Registration is now open. For more Information, to see the syllabus, and register click here .

7. By the Numbers: Patents and Licenses January 2018

UK IP LICENSING DEALS

(2) Avast Therapeutics, LLC

Luke Bradley, Don Gash, Greg Gerhardt (Neuroscience)

EryDel S.p.A.

Chang-Guo Zhan, Daquan Gao, Fang Zheng, Lei Fang (Pharmaceutical Sciences)

ISSUED PATENTS

9,879,240

Chang-Guo Zhan, Fang Zheng, Lei Fang (Pharmaceutical Sciences)

9,879,043

Jon Thorson, Tyler Huber, Jianjun Zhang, Shanteri Singh (Pharmaceutical Sciences)

9,873,670

David Watt (Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry), Chunming Liu (Markey Cancer Center), Vivek Rangnekar (Radiation Medicine), Vitaliy Sviripa (Pharmaceutical Sciences), Ravshan Burikhanov (Radiation Medicine), Wen Zhang (Markey Cancer Center)

9,861,319

Guoqiang Yu, Chong Huang (Biomedical Engineering)

9,859,513

Douglas Strachan, David Hunley (Physics and Astronomy)

8. OTC Team Announcements: Chairs, Boards & Speakers Oh My!

The OTC Team is working to make an impact in the area of technology commercialization through participation in national and regional groups and meetings. As well, some team members have been recognized for their efforts outside of the realm of commercialization.

9. Events of Interest to Inventors and Entrepreneurs

5Across Pitch Competition for Entrepreneurs

February 28, 2018 5:00pm

Awesome Inc

348 E Main Street, Lexington KY 40507

Startup Breakfast

Every Wednesday, 7:30am

First Watch

1080 S. Broadway, Lexington KY 40504

No RSVP necessary

SBIR Connect - Lexington

2nd Tuesday of the month 4:00pm-6:00pm

Base 110, 3rd Floor

110 W. Vine Street, Lexington, KY 40507

Central KY Inventors Council

1st Tuesday of the month, open meetings

2nd Tuesday of the month, workshops for inventors and entrepreneurs

Eastside Library

3000 Blake James Drive, Lexington, KY 40509

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