Technology Transfers Bring "Bench to Bedside" - But Do Companies Want In?
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, JANUARY 29, 2007
Last week, Akron General Medical Center announced a technology transfer initiative designed to bring product development into the hospital - and, ideally, open the region to new medtech development and investment opportunities.
The nonprofit hospital's new Technology Transfer, Commercialization and Innovation Office will allow the hospital to partner with startup companies trying to bring new medical products to market. The hospital will provide office space and access to physicians and research equipment for participating companies.
Deals will vary from project to project, but companies may pay Akron General for services or offer the hospital an equity stake in the ventures being developed. The benefit for companies is the "intellectual capital," the opportunity to develop ideas and products with an eye on the clinical considerations that could be overlooked in a lab. Robert Anthony, manager of the new office, calls the effort a "integrative research initiative that goes from bench to bedside."
As yet, no deals have been finalized at Akron General, but one hospital with a similar program in place is New York-Presbyterian. In a 2004 interview with The Scientist, Peter Leonardi, the head of New York-Presbyterian's technology transfer, says this seemingly valuable research climate may not have companies clamoring for deals, particularly in the device space. Leonardi describes medical devices as giving the impression that a company can develop and market them solo, and suggests that some companies may be resistant to share innovation with a hospital.
Some of New York-Presbyterian's concerns are rooted in geography. New York has little to offer in the way of laboratory space, and a company's operating costs would be higher than in other American cities. In contrast to New York, Akron could likely offer more research space and lower costs, making Akron General's goal of drawing innovation to the region a real possibility.
This isn't to say that technology transfers aren't successful. Leonardi adds that most of the devices developed within the New York-Presbyterian program appear headed for profitability. Though technology transfer seems to struggle to balance the benefits of collaboration with its challenges, programs continue to sprout up, and others gain their footing, fulfilling their intention of profitable partnerships that help smooth the road to product marketing.
