COMMERCIALISATION NEWSLETTER - STAFF DEVELOPMENT
The 8th Annual TTS Global Initiative North America meeting was held at Rutgers University Newark,
New Jersey between 13-14 July 2016. TTS was launched in 2007 and brings together stakeholders
from Biotechnology, Pharma, Bio Industry, Venture and institutions where initiatives to foster the
more efficient translation of researcher is explored. The New Jersey meeting was attended by over
250 delegates from pharma, biotech, VC’s, universities, etc. The meeting covered a wide range of
topics including: Translational research as a key driver of innovation in biotech and healthcare at
universities of all sizes, Industry Academia collaboration in the context of greater pharma
engagement; the benefits to institutions and the increasing standard of expectations, Strategic
business development; understanding the market, and working towards a partnership, With key
notes from Juan Carlos Lopez, Global Head of Academic Relations & Alliances, Roche, Donald H.
Sebastian, Ph.D., President & CEO, NJ Innovation Institute and Kevin Noonan, Partner MBHP LLP,
Editor & Co-Founder, Patent Docs.
There was a real focus on the challenges within the pharma industry and how these have led to
changes in the methods in which institutions and industry interact, with discussion focussed on
some of the following:
Contraction of research and the requirement for new models (MRCT, etc.) to be explored and new
partnerships and methods of engagement (depending on size, resources, etc.) with universities,
there needs to be new approaches and flexibility, this is not a one size fits all. There needs to be an
understanding from both industry and universities from both sides of what is really valued and what
is expected.
Need for spin outs: A developing trend is occurring where large corporations are interested in
university spin out companies, as there is a natural de-risk, and the technology is at a point which
can be taken in house.
Reproducibility is an ongoing problem, and should be tackled at the start of a project, experiments
should be designed with this in mind, but industry should be involved early in the process, so
expectations are understood and the technology is de-risked.
Changing Patent Rules: Mayo v. Prometheus, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad
Genetics & Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International cases have challenged patenting natural law and
abstract ideas, and this continues to be a challenge. Universities and industry alike are faced with
the protection issues and the need to build packages of innovation into patents. USPTO released
eligibility testing, which should be applied prior to filing (see flow chart below) and Guidance for life
sciences subject matter eligibility in May 2016, which are yet to be fully utilised. More detail can be
found here: http://goo.gl/AQX3ub, http://goo.gl/ZGynWt
There are changes in Universities that are also starting to explore new methods of innovation as they
face reduced pipelines, concepts around true multi-disciplinary approaches are being explored and
have demonstrated huge success especially for Columbia University. Approaches such as this are
becoming increasingly popular, and a trend which funding agencies and industry are interested in.
Further information
TTS Global Initiative: http://goo.gl/rbfidv
TS North America meeting: http://goo.gl/I0X8bE