CLEVELAND – Survey data compiled by a national technology transfer organization shows Case Western Reserve University continuing a leadership role among Ohio universities, hospitals and research institutes by collecting $35.3 million in licensing revenues over a recent three-year period, and the outlook for ongoing strong performance is bright.
The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) recently released its U.S. Licensing Activity Survey, including fiscal year 2008 (the latest comparative statistics available).
"Although the national 2009 data for U.S. research institutions has yet to be released, we are confident that we will again exhibit best-of-class performance, as 2009 was a record-setting year at CWRU in terms of both income and company formation," said Mark. E. Coticchia, the university's vice president for research and technology management.
Specific to Ohio colleges and universities participating in the AUTM survey, in fiscal 2008 CWRU ranks number one in licensing income ($13.3 million), executed licenses and options (34) and cumulative active licenses (217). CWRU Technology Transfer had $16.2 million in revenue in fiscal 2009.
Nationally, CWRU's licensing revenues in fiscal 2008 ranked in the top 25 among all schools and outpaced other notable institutions, including peer-group members Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Carnegie-Mellon and Dartmouth.
Also at the national level, CWRU consistently ranked in the top 15 in various categories with respect to the 135 institutions with a research base of $350 million or less. Among a peer group of 43 schools, CWRU ranked sixth in licensing income, ninth in invention disclosures and tenth in license/options executed and cumulative active licenses.
"I believe that our last several years of success are largely predicated upon commitments and principles that we initiated in 2002, when our trustees and operational leadership realized the needs and opportunities tied to sound commercialization of cutting edge research" Coticchia said. "We firmly believe that the approach and operational approaches to which we subscribe at CWRU will continue to be successful from both a commercialization and translational perspective."
The nation's recession has not interfered with opportunities for partnering and licensing, said Joseph Jankowski, associate vice president technology management.
"Likewise, our start-up portfolio companies continue to exhibit the ability to raise investment capital despite the challenges facing the private equity markets," Jankowski said. "It's hard to provide a definitive reason for insulation from the macro-economic factors, but it may be that product-stage commercial firms are turning to research institutions as a way to grow their future product portfolios rather than investing in internal R&D."
Technology transfer is a term used to describe a formal transfer of rights to use and commercialize new discoveries and innovations resulting from scientific research to another party.
Universities typically transfer technology by protecting it through patents and copyrights, then licensing its use.
The mission of the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) at Case Western Reserve University is to assist and lead the successful commercialization of ideas created by the university's valuable research.
The Association of University Technology Managers, with headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., is a nonprofit organization with an international membership of more than 3,000 technology managers and business executives. AUTM members — managers of intellectual property, one of the most active growth sectors of the global economy — come from more than 300 universities, research institutions and teaching hospitals as well as numerous businesses and government organizations.
Case Western Reserve University is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case Western Reserve is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case Western Reserve offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu