Success Stories

At Boston University

otd-slideshow-03-feature-ontak

Ontak®

Ontak® is a cancer drug (for T-cell lymphoma) originally developed by Dr. Jack Murphy and currently marketed by Eisai Pharmaceuticals.

Boston Micromachines

Link to the company website.

QuitNet

Link to the company website.

Sequenom, Inc.

Link to the company website.

Symphogen A/S

Link to the company website.

Note: This page is still under construction, more success stores to come.

At Other Universities

In 1980, Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act specifically to encourage the translation of university research into useful products and services. Since then most universities, teaching hospitals and not-for-profit research institutes have established offices of technology transfer.

Passage of Bayh-Dole coincided with the emergence of the biotechnology industry, with the emergence of a strong venture capital industry and a strengthening of US patent protection in the US, universities have made a substantial contribution to the emergence of the US’s knowledge-based economy. For instance, in 1999, the Association of University Technology Managers, the professional association of academic technology managers (“AUTM”) reported:

“The commercialization of academic research in 1999 resulted in more than $40 billion in economic activity that supported more than 270,000 jobs, according to a survey released this week”

Some of the early successes of university technology transfer were:

  • the Cohen-Boyer patents on the basic techniques of genetic engineering, which brought in around $195 million for Stanford University and the University of California prior to its expiration in 1997;
  • the Axel Patents on co-amplification of plasmids in eukaryotic cells, which brought in $395 million to Columbia University prior to its expiration in 2001; and
  • Amgen’s Neupogen®, currently generating around $40 million per year for Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital

A number of recent success stories can be found on the website of AUTM, plus summaries of technology transfer statistics nationwide. A series of product vignettes describe some recent successful product introductions based on university technologies.