Science & Innovation Insiders

Annual report of the Association of Universities Tech Transfer Managers – Part 1 : analysis of 2010 main indicators

David Boucard Planel — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:04:54 +0000

For the twentieth year, the Association of Universities Tech transfer Managers published, at the end of 2010, a report that contains many economic indicators related to the development of technology transfer (TT) in the country. These different indicators were established by a group of experts twenty years ago, with the goal of providing a clear vision of the reality of technology transfer landscape in the United States. This 2010 AUTM survey is gives the Office of Science & Technology of the French Consulate an opportunity to report quantitative data on the latest developments in technology transfer in the United States. In this first part, we will put an emphasis on the most significant data of TT in the United States, considered in its entirety.

About the AUTM Survey and data collection:

The surrvey for FY 2010 was held in 2011. Some inquires were sent to the AUTM’s partners from February, 25th to April, 25th. Out of the 258 universities contacted, 155 responded, for a response rate of 66%. 27 U.S. hospitals and research institutes out of 65 contacted actually responded, for a response rate of 42%. The major American universities are present in the report: MIT, Caltech, Stanford or Harvard or the University of Chicago. The universities of California and Texas, which include several institutions (University of California at San Diego, University of California at Berkeley, etc …) gave a joint response to the questionnaire, and are therefore presented as a system. Some leading universities such as Princeton University didn’t answer to the survey.

Resources for technology transfer:
1. Staff

One of the main indicators is the number of people who are employed in the office of technology transfer (TTO). In 2010, there were about 2,152 people employed in the 155 universities surveyed. The office’s size is very disparate between the different universities : 22% of the offices employ less than 3 people, 23% between 3 and 6, 30% between 7 and 14 and 25% more than 14 people. Since 2006, the average number of employees in the offices has been increasing regularly.

B. Research expenditures

Research expenditures continue to increase from 2009 levels. Total research and development spending increased nearly 10% with 59 billion$ total sponsored research expenditure.

Intellectual Properties (IP) and Licences

The number of inventions by university is also a good indicator for the AUTM to measure the activity level of universities related to IP. The data reveals a constant increasing of the researchers’inventions: 113 inventions in 2010 versus 75 in 2001 (average per university)

Regarding the patents statistics, one can observe an increase in the new U.S patent applications field: 12, 281 were filed nationally in 2010 vs 6,389 in 2001. But, 10,517 patent applications were field between 2001 and 2004. The growth rate seems to be plummeting.

Furthermore, the majority of patents filed in the US are being filed by foreign countries. The percentage of patents filed by Universities is stable since 2005, reaching 57%, except in 2006 (62%).

Universities could take advantage of the patents reform to reduce time to obtain a patent (see 3, 4, 5, 6).

First patents reform’s effects are already visible, since the number of Universities patents filed nation-wide increased from 3,417 to 4,469, (31% growth).

AUTM is also paying further attention to the number of Universities patents filed compared to the number of inventions registered to the TTO. Since the early 90’s: between 1993 and 2003, the ratio went from 30% to 60%. However, since 2003, the ratio has remained stable, reaching a plateau around 60%. This may indicate that TTO are actually functioning at full speed and that they can’t file more patents, or that their due diligence process has become more efficient.

The last fundamental aspect of TT regarding Intellectual Property is licenses.

Most of the time, TT allows Technology Transition towards commercialization.

Since 2001, we can notice a significant increase of the number of licenses granted by TTOs. In 2001, the average number of licensed granted by university was 22, against 30 in 2010. The number of active licenses almost doubled in ten years, reaching an average of 221 per university.

AUTM noticed one invention leads to 1.27 license on average (one invention can lead to many licenses). The report also relates how licenses have been awarded to small or big companies. In 2010, 34% of licenses have been awarded to bigger companies, 49% to the small and mid-size companies, and 18% to innovative start-ups.

Licenses are also one of the best ways for universities to generate revenue. The 182 universities, who have been asked to answer a survey, have earned in 2010 more than $ 2.39 billion of growth revenue thanks to licensing. This number slightly increased compared to 2009, but is still far from the $ 3.44 billion observed in 2008.

Startups

In 2010, 652 start-ups were created directly from universities technologies, which represent an increase of 9% from 2009 levels.

Among these startups, many of them exploited a license sold by the universities which maintain a profit-sharing. The AUTM statistics reveals that since 2001, approximately 300 startups are created each year this way. These figures tend to confirm that the startups created in the wake of university academics are all the result of “spin out” as well as “spin off”.

Conclusion

The figures presented by the AUTM reflect the good health of TT activity in the United States. The universities seem to fully benefit from the “Bay-Dohl Act”, passed in 1980, and that allows them to commercialize their inventions, even though the research is largely funded by the federal government. The recent new patent bill (“American Invents Act”) which took years to take shape is also great news for TT. With the shortening of patent granting time, the universities will be able to shorten the time-to-market for their new inventions.

Considered as a whole, indicators seem to be strongly positive regarding TT in the US. However, statistics tend to fluctuate depending on Universities. TT activity may strongly vary from one university to the other. Second observation: the improvement over the last years has been very slow, revealing that TT activity seems to have reached a plateau amongst Universities. We will answer further questions in the second part of the article.

Read the full article (in French)

Innovation in US Manufacturing Industry Part 1 : Experts’ Opinion

David Boucard Planel — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:50:30 +0000

The part 1 paper addresses the issue of US manufacturing and innovation. After Obama’s Advance Manufacturing Program initiative last year the author notes that little impact in both the US manufacturing industry and the literature has been observed. The AMP looks presently outdated by the recent figure regarding the manufacturing world share : China is turning the leading country with 19,8% and has overtaken the U.S. with 19,4%. The article explores two ambivalent trends underlying the globalization in manufacturing : (1) the propensity of US firms to outsource manufacturing in China, making the business of US firms very profitable (cf. Apple) and the customer satisfaction higher, making the US trade deficit with China acceptable, and (2) the propensity to transfer innovation capability to China when manufacturing is located there, preventing the US manufacturing firms to do so. (to be continued)

Read the full article (in French)

Entrepreneurship ecosystems : California still on top, Massachusetts beats NYC for second place !

David Boucard Planel — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:19:51 +0000

President Obama insisted, during his State of the Union address, on the fundamental importance of entrepreneurship for the US economy, and he especially called upon the different states to do their best to create attractive environments for entrepreneurs, referred today as “entrepreneurial ecosystems”. Well, when one looks at the data revealing how each state is doing in its attempt to attract entrepreneurs, the gap between the best and the worse is quite striking !

California still on top !

The first spot is undoubtedly occupied by California, and 2011 statistics confirm the domination more than ever.
Home to a great ecosystem composed of great universities (Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, etc.), big Venture Capital funds, great start-ups and innovative companies, the region is also inhabited by a very powerful entrepreneurial spirit, never equaled anywhere else in the world. The results ? California attracted more than 50 % of the venture capital money in 2011, for a total of more than $15 billion, and was home of some of the biggest IPOs of the year (Linkedin & Zynga…) and Facebook is expected to beat the record in a couple of months. Also, California keeps attracting the most innovative companies, that sees the region as a “start-up heaven”.

Massachusetts & NYC battle for second place.

And what about others ? The traditional second of this “entrepreneurial race” is Massachusetts, another great ecosystem that gather the same ingredients than California, but at a more modest scale. Benefiting from the bright minds of Harvard and MIT and of the power of its financial scene, the Massachusetts is a giant hub for biotechnology and healthcare, and attracts a lot of financing, whether private ($3.5 billions from VCs) or public (Massachusetts obtained one of the biggest share of public funding in science these last years).

But its title is seriously contested by the fast growing New York State, and especially New York City, that wants to become famous for entrepreneurship the way it already is for arts, fashion and finance ! With more than 100 academical institutions, a fire power in finance and the support of its mayor, NYC keeps launching initiatives aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, especially in the IT sector. As an example, a new cross-disciplinary scientific campus worth $100 millions is being built and a new biotechnology initiative is on the way. In a couple of years, NYC has become a very trendy place for entrepreneurs willing to build the next big company !

Can that ambition threaten Massachusetts ? Undoubtedly, especially since the 3rd trimester of 2011, when NYC pulled in $831 millions of VC money in start-ups, toping Massachusetts ($710 millions) for the first time ! Michael Bloomberg, mayor of NYC, boasted that his city was on track to outperform Mass. for good. And when Facebook decided to open its East Coast office in NYC instead of Boston, that was another big slap in the face of Massachusetts ! Fortunately for the latter, things came “back to where they where” in the end of 2011, when Mass outperformed NYC again, finishing the year with $3.6 billions of VC money, against $1.6 billion for its rival.

Massachusetts, a more balanced approach.. for now

So who’s got the best asset to secure the second spot ? We would tend to place a bet on Massachusetts, who can pride itself on having a broader distribution of startups, ranging from biotech, its traditional strength, to cleantech and IT (10% and 23% of investments), and also an easier access to start-up capital than NYC. But to remain competitive Mass will have to develop more its internet and IT sectors, that are focusing attention and money right now all over the United States. On the other side, NYC relies too much on the IT sector, that represent almost 2/3 of the money attracted for start-ups, and has to concentrate its efforts on building a more balanced environment, to facilitate the development of other industries. It is key to insure its development. Also, and even if that can be seen as a paradox, NYC has to expand the quantity of money available for start-ups, as Wall Street is not made to invest in small companies.

Collaboration, instead of competition ?

Another opportunity for Massachusetts and NYC would be to collaborate more in order to create an “East Coast ecosystem” that would definitely gather amazing assets to attract start-ups. The NYC-Boston corridor represents a great ecosystem, that would be recognized as one of the world’s best, if only the two regions collaborated and promoted it in such a way internationally. Calfornia, as an example, is perceived as a whole while being way bigger than the NYC-Boston corridor, and it encompasses several innovative clusters such as the Silicon Valley, San Diego or San Francisco. A good idea to explore for the Massachusetts and NYC rivals ?

Read our full report (in French)

Essential of the weeks : Feb 1st – Feb 15, 2012

David Boucard Planel — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:26:07 +0000

After trailing far behind other Universities like MIT or Babson College, it seems like Harvard is really willing to catch up in the race for entrepreneurship. After opening their Innovation Lab a couple of months ago, the University decided to go further and launched an experiment fund that will provide up to $250,000 in seed fund, mainly to student-led teams in Cambridge, MA. That’s a big move for the university, that certainly doesn’t want to see the next Marc Zuckerberg leave the campus for the Silicon Valley !

Related to this subject, John Dearborn, Pdt of Jumpstart Inc, proposes that universities recruits great entrepreneurs like they recruit athletes, arguing that if some of the best universities redirected some of their funds to hire great minds and help them jumpstart their company, the economics effects would be far greater than those provided by star athletes, and we have to say we can’t agree more !

On the government side, president Obama presented to congress his Startup America Legislative Agenda, that aims at facilitating the launching of companies for entrepreneurs and ease the access to capital, which is pretty restrained due to a tight credit market and a very slow economic recovery. Will these bills get Congress approval ? Nothing’s less certain, as republicans probably won’t yield the president a legislative victory in this year of election.

Entrepreneurs willing to raise fund could soon rely more broadly on crowdfunding, if the bill passed at the House of Reresentatives doesn’t get stuck in the U.S. Senate ! Still a lot of experts are debating about whether crowdfunding is really good or not for tech startups ? Our guess is that crowdfunding need to be monitored closely by some official commission, so that no fraud comes out of it, which could be devastating for entrepreneurs.

Finally, do you want to know what companies are the most innovative in the world ? Even though this is an infinite debate, Fast Company tried to establish a ranking, and we have to say that we are pretty impressed by the laureates. Not only are these companies good for economic growth and employment rates, most of them also facilitate our lives. So go take a look at these fabulous companies !

An insider look at the MIT European Career Fair

David Boucard Planel — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:34:22 +0000

16th edition of the European Career Fair (ECF): what about the attractiveness of Europe for Scientists ?

Your favorite team of the Office of Science & Technology was at the MIT European Career Fair day on Saturday, January 21st, at the French Embassy booth. The MIT ECF is the biggest event of its kind, gathering more than 100 companies, research organisations and universities from all over Europe, and attracting 4 000+ job seekers. This forum is usually a good indicator to evaluate how attractive is Europe for scientists and students working in the United States. It’s also a perfect moment for some European countries to showcase their strengths and try to attract bright new foreign minds !

This year, the Fair was preceded by a day-wide conference called “Destination Europe : Your Research and Innovation Opportunities“, that was held in Cambridge. This colloquium was organized by the European Commission and the European Research Council, in collaboration with several EU states and the Strategic Forum for International Cooperation. Yes, Europe didn’t came unarmed !

The European Commissioner for Innovation & Research, at the French Embassy booth

The objective of this conference was to increase awareness of these opportunities and to promote Europe as a powerfull destination for scientists and science-related professionals. More than 250 researchers, opinion leaders and representative from leading US universities and from the scientific diplomacy community, as well as media reporters attended the event. To highlight Europe’s strengths, prominent scientists shared their extensive experience. Tim Hunt was one of them. This British Biochemist has received nothing less than a Nobel Prize of Medicine / Physiology, rewarding his discovery of Cyclins ? Two other stories caught our attention. They tell the experience of 2 scholarship winners* of a grant provided by the ERC, who belong to third counties, got trained in Europe as part of a PhD and then moved to the US, before returning to France, to receive a very prestigious grant. They are the perfect example of how strong collaborations between Europe and the U.S can help the advancement of Science.

The highlight of the meeting was the intervention of Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research and Innovation who came to speak about the ambitions of “Horizon 2020″ (the European program for research and innovation) and foster cross-pond collaborations between the U.S. and Europe.

Let’s talk a little about the ECF day. Walk-ins plummeted in comparison to the 2010 edition, as about 2 000 people flocked around the 118 companies and institutions waiting to inform them. WIth 12 booths, France was the third largest exhibitor (tied with Switzerland), Germany leading the pack with an impressive delegation, followed by the Netherlands, which is a surprise. On the French side, the CNRS, INRIA, INSERM, the Curie Institute and 7 firms were present (Constellation, Orange, Saint-Gobain, Sanofi, Thales, Total and Areva)

115 people came to the French Embassy booth, mostly inquiring about opportunities for French scientists to go back to France. Foreign people were more interested by internship opportunities and immigration laws.

The German delegation was very impressive, gathering nothing less than 54 institutions and companies, gaining the highest visibility without a doubt. German institutions rely on the ECF to hire young and bright teachers and researchers, and they certainly did that well this year, with powerful representatives. Let’s hope that next year, France may bring a greater task force, to gain more visibility and compete with our German neighbors.

*Dr. Aziz Moqrich (CNRS, Institute of Developmental Biology in Marseille) and Dr. J. Aksam Merched (Research Director of the Health and Biosciences Department, University of Bordeaux 2).

For The First Time, Scientists Create a 3D Map of Chromosomes’ Organization !

David Boucard Planel — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:12:31 +0000

In collaboration with researchers from the Weizmann Institute in Israel, a team from the Institut de Génétique Humaine (CNRS) has, for the first time, revealed the detailed three-dimensional architecture of chromosomes: Giacomo Cavalli and his colleagues have achieved high-resolution mapping of the different contacts that exist within and between chromosomes. They performed this feat using a new very high-throughput technique improved by the Montpellier team. This major research work should shed new light on the impact of 3D chromosome organization on genome expression and on the onset of diseases such as cancer. It is published in the online version of the journal Cell of 19 January 2012.

This article was originally published by the French National Center for Scientific Research.

Researchers had suspected for years: individuals are more than the sum of their genes and therefore the architecture of their chromosomes could also be a key factor in the proper functioning of their cells. However, until now, a real understanding of the principles governing the folding of the genome in the nucleus was beyond the scope of existing approaches. Consequently, for the last four years, twenty or so research teams in various parts of the globe have been developing methods to study genome folding.

To describe interactions between genomic regions, the CNRS team used a method known as “chromosome conformation capture” (Hi-C), derived from a technique developed in 2009 by an American group. Like the American version, the Montpellier method involves three major steps: fixing intra- and inter-chromosomal interactions with formaldehyde; binding the ends of the two regions in contact with the DNA ligase protein, of bacterial origin; and determining the sequence of these two contacting regions. Yet Cavalli and his colleagues brought significant improvements to the technique, making it possible to study much smaller fragments of DNA (several hundred base pairs, compared to fragments of 5-10 kilobases previously), and thus allowing these interactions to be mapped at high resolution.

Using this technique, the Montpellier researchers and their Israeli colleagues analyzed the genome of Drosophila (also known as fruit fly), an insect whose genome is fifteen times smaller than our own. The team was able to identify no fewer than 118 million contact zones! Analysis of these zones enabled the scientists to produce very detailed interaction maps. These show that the chromosomes are organized into domains containing one or more genes. Separated by chromatic boundary regions known as “insulators”, these domains correspond either to actively expressed zones, or to inactive regions.

The mathematical expertise of Amos Tanay’s Israeli team helped both groups develop a computer model capable of predicting, with quite good accuracy, the real folding of chromosomes. This very powerful tool has made it possible to elucidate the fundamental principles underlying the 3D organization of the genome.

In particular, it appears that the inactive domains tend to form interactions with other inactive domains, often nearby on the same chromosome, whereas active domains “contact” other active domains, either close or distant, in some cases on other chromosomes.

This crucial work should provide better understanding of the differences in chromosomal folding between different types of cells (liver cells, muscle cells, nerve cells, etc.), and the importance of such folding in the onset of cancer.

Essentials of the weeks : January 23 – 30

David Boucard Planel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:09:54 +0000

Finally ! After taunting us for more than a year, Facebook finally filed with the Securities and Exchange commission, announcing an IPO that should be done around May. The goal would be to raise 5 billion and if the company is correctly valuated at $100 billions, then Marc Zuckerberg would be worth more than $28 billions ! But who else owns Facebook and how much are they worth ? That’s the question that Techcrunch answers !

Another hot industry is healthcare, thanks to the new innovation possibilities in Mobile Health. Thanks to the raise of the iPhone and similar mobile devices, a whole new industry is growing that could bring cheaper and better health care to everyone. Want to see the mesmerizing last products in this area ? Today’s $2 billions market could skyrocket in the next years, so you better stay tuned !

More focused on long term issues, Social Innovation is also on the raise, and is more and more adopted by big firms, not only entrepreneurs. Now that the hype has passed, it is time to develop a solid social product innovation strategy and get down to (social) business.

In the entrepreneurship area, TechStars, one of the most famous Startup Accelerator, just announced its new class of 2012, made of 13 brilliant entrepreneurs, while a new coworking, Intrepid Labs, has just opened in Boston, and is focused on growing startups !

Finally, on the investment side, VCs struggled again to raise money in 2012, barely topping $18 B, and shifting money from early stage startups to more mature phases of development. In 2012, cautious optimism is shown by the industry, that foresees a difficult year. That’s good news for Angel Investors, who are on the rise and are outspending VCs everywhere, but in the US.

Venture Capital In 2012 : A Cautious Optimism

David Boucard Planel — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:38:47 +0000

The last numbers of 2011 just got released : 2011 was a very good year for Venture Capitalism in the U.S. With more than $30B invested in startups in 2011, representing a 30% raise, this is the biggest record in a decade ! VCs were optimistic at the beginning of the year, and they were right to be so. And every industry sector benefited from the pouring money coming from the VCs, some more than others of course.

The trendy web has got the biggest chunk of the pie, with more than $10B investments in 1 175 deals, accounting for one third of everything ! The two other giants, the cleantech and life science industries, fared relatively well, attracting respectively $5.2B and $7B of VC money into their companies. That’s great news !

But wait, is there a catch ? As always… VC firms struggled for the 4th consecutive year to raise money from their traditional investors, barely topping $18B commitment from them. Even though it’s 31% more than in 2010, we are still way below the amount raised before the financial crisis ($30B). That’s a sign that venture capital is still recovering from the crisis, despite the fantastic amounts spent. Most of all, that could be a sneak peak of what could happen to companies trying to raise cash in the next years : a shortage !

Also, and in great paradoxical movement, VC firms tend to make more deals with very young companies, while at the same time redirecting more cash toward late stage companies ! Indeed, first time deals dropped by 33%, while late deals increased by 43 % ! That’s not good news for newcoming entrepreneurs…

Still, VCs are quite optimistic for 2012, but remain cautious. It even seems that 2011 was too good to be true ! They expected to keep struggling to raise money form their usual investors, and some of them are quite wary about the web industry, as rumors of the froth becoming a bubble are spreading out .. Let’s hope the 2012 results exceed their expectations ! Venture capital being fundamental to the development of certain categories of startups, this is vital !

Read the full article (in French)

Big pharmas outsource their R&D: new opportunities for biotech startups! (in French)

David Boucard Planel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:49:36 +0000

In our new article, we explore one important aspect of the evolution of big pharmaceutical companies towards new models of development : the outsourcing of their R&D capacities, evolving towards a Search & Development model. Is it now widely recognized that the big pharmaceutical companies have completely remodeled their R&D system for drug development. By reducing their internal R&D capacities and cutting large teams of researchers, these companies are looking to improve their efficiency and unclog their drug development pipeline. Of course, financial aspects are also extremely importants, as this new model aims at cutting the huge costs and risks of drug development, that are nowadays too big to offset the benefit of a successful project.

This could be a huge opportunity for biotech companies, smaller, more agile and willing to take more risks to develop new great drugs. Are they going to become the new Research Departments of the big pharmaceutical companies ? We can bet on it !

Read the full article (in French)

Essentials of the Week : January 9 – 20

David Boucard Planel — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:10:12 +0000

Seems like nothing can stop the dynamic pace of innovation that is happening at the beginning of this year ! As usual we dig for the best and latest news, and the harvest is very prolific ! And NO we are not talking about Megaupload’s closure by FBI ! Enjoy these articles and don’t hesitate to share them !

Article of the Week :
2011 Venture Capital Report – A Record Year with $30.6 Billion Invested in 3051 Deals - CB Insights
Innovation
Do Innovation Consultants Kill Innovation ? – Jens Martin Skibsted & Rasmus Bech Hansen – Fast.Co Design -
Mike Bloomberg is a Smart Businessman, That’s Why he is Trying to Learn Code – Zach Sims – Fast.Co Exist
See The Coolest Sleep Technology at CES – Lindsay Blakely – Inc. Magazine
Principles for Social Innovation in 2012 – Alnoor Ladha & Tim Dixion – Fast.Co Exist

Entrepreneurship
A Year for Entrepreneurs – Jonathan Ortmans – Entrepreneurship.org
Here’s How Long It Took 15 Hot Startups To Get 1,000,000 Users - Business Insider
Top 15 U.S Accelerator & Incubators Ranked- Frank Gruber – TechcocktailBusiness

Business
How To Work From Home Like You Mean It - Kevin Purdy – Fast Company
The Four Year Career – Anya Kamenetz – Fast Company