Creating positive impact through commercialization

What do the ability to measure brain chemistry in real-time, therapies to treat cancer in dogs and treatments for anxiety and depression have in common?

All are inventions stemming from research at the University of Arizona, specifically in the College of Science.

And the UA licensed all to startup companies that are taking these inventions from the lab to the marketplace, where they create positive economic impact and improve lives. “Technology commercialization is a continuation of the research process,” says David Allen, Tech Launch Arizona vice president.

Advances in science, technology and medicine often produce discoveries and research findings that apply in commercial settings. Tech Launch works to protect the intellectual property of these inventions. The process starts with the disclosure of inventions and culminates with products created by companies that license UA intellectual property.

All told, Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes these inventions, has achieved record increases since its inception nearly four years ago.

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The College of Science played a significant role in these achievements in 2016, delivering 81 invention disclosures, 90 filed patents, 12 options and licenses, nine asset development projects and three startup companies: Akhu Therapeutics Inc.; Anivive Lifesciences Inc.; and Knowmad Technologies.

Now at the halfway mark of the fiscal year, the office is well on its way to increasing its total number of invention disclosures, total deals and startups by another 10 percent by the end of fiscal 2017.

“With the momentum we have going this year,” says Allen, “we expect that we’ll be able to report additional increases of 10 percent in the total number of invention disclosures, exclusive and non-exclusive licenses and startups by the end of fiscal 2017.”

Such year-over-year increases prove that the UA is going through a great shift in the culture around technology commercialization, and the future for positive impact from UA research and inventive activity will only continue to grow. “The results also show that the TLA approach of integrating the Southern Arizona community and UA alumni can bring technology domain knowledge and entrepreneurial experience to extend the fundamental inventive work of UA faculty,” says Allen.