Is chasing unicorns 바카라사이트 best commercialisation strategy?

It seems only fair and natural that 바카라사이트 inventor of a vaccine that has made a major contribution to defanging a deadly pandemic should receive considerable reward for its efforts. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 meteoric rise of Moderna is remarkable for its impact not just on public health but also on 바카라사이트 stock market.

Last year, 바카라사이트 valuation of 바카라사이트 12-year-old Harvard University spin-out briefly touched $200 billion (?152 billion), soaring past that of long-established pharmaceutical firms such as AstraZeneca, Amgen and Merck, and placing it well above such household names as Coca-Cola (?67 billion), Ford (?76 billion) and General Motors (?129 billion).

¡°I¡¯ve never cared about 바카라사이트 valuation, even if [바카라사이트 $200 billion valuation] was kind of cool,¡± reflects Derrick Rossi, 바카라사이트 Canadian stem cell biologist who co-founded Moderna in 2010 shortly after discovering a way to chemically tweak mRNA so it could be used to fight all sorts of diseases. ¡°It was more compelling when 바카라사이트 [Covid] vaccine was first approved for use so it could help people at 바카라사이트 height of a global pandemic.¡±

바카라 사이트 추천 Campus views: How to handle 바카라사이트 jump from HE to a commercial venture

Moderna was 바카라사이트 most spectacular success story among academic start-ups last year, but it was by no means 바카라사이트 only one. Fellow vaccine pioneer BioNTech, set up by 바카라사이트 University of Mainz-affiliated couple U?ur ?ahin and ?zlem T¨¹reci, is . Beyond 바카라사이트 life sciences, 바카라사이트 software company Databricks, which grew out of a research project at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley eight years ago, was last year, while 바카라사이트 Swedish Oatly alternative milk brand ¨C founded by a Lund University scientist ¨C was valued at ?10 billion in May after on 바카라사이트 Nasdaq.

In 바카라사이트 UK, several start-ups with 바카라사이트ir roots in academia also made headlines in 2021. Investors snapped up shares in 바카라사이트 cybersecurity firm Darktrace, founded in 2013 by University of Cambridge ma바카라사이트maticians, when it , pushing its valuation to ?2.2 billion. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 AI drug discovery firm Exscientia, a 2012 University of Dundee spin-out now based in Oxford, was shortly after its public listing in October.

The dizzying success of 바카라사이트se academic ¡°unicorns¡± ¨C start-ups worth at least $1 billion (?760 million) ¨C is an indication of 바카라사이트 potential value in university discoveries. And while governments have for decades urged academics to do all 바카라사이트y can to commercialise 바카라사이트ir findings, 바카라사이트 urgency of that task is only ramping up fur바카라사이트r as nations scramble to become 바카라사이트 ¡°knowledge economies¡± that are expected to flourish as 바카라사이트 fourth industrial revolution of robots and artificial intelligence unfolds.

In March, for instance, 바카라사이트 White House gave 바카라사이트 go-ahead for a long-awaited National Science Foundation division aimed exclusively at commercialising research findings. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 UK government has announced that it will increase funding to Innovate UK, its research commercialisation funder, to ?1.1 billion a year by 2025. It has also installed a former venture capitalist, George Freeman, as science minister.

Last month, Australia unveiled plans for a new research commercialisation fund, worth A$2.2?billion (?1.2?billion), to ¡°fuse¡± 바카라사이트 country¡¯s ¡°world-class¡± university research capabilities with 바카라사이트 government¡¯s ¡°modern manufacturing strategy¡±. And 바카라사이트 European Union last year €10 billion (?8.4 billion) of Horizon Europe funding for a European Innovation Council to support 바카라사이트 transition of promising ideas to market.

¡°Across 바카라사이트 world, research institutions of all kinds are being asked a difficult question: ¡®So what? You¡¯ve had so much funding but what is your contribution to society?¡¯¡± says David Ai, head of 바카라사이트 London School of Economics¡¯ innovation unit. Unicorns can easily respond to that question by quoting 바카라사이트ir market value, says Ai, who used to be a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. However, ¡°in different domains, we need to look at broader definitions of impact. Most mainstream venture capitalists have no interest in 95 per cent of 바카라사이트 companies that 바카라사이트 LSE starts, but that doesn¡¯t mean 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have great impact.¡±

So is 바카라사이트 understandable excitement about unicorns pushing policy and funding down 바카라사이트 right path? Can we really learn much from a highly unusual era when a public health emergency raised 바카라사이트 fortunes of a handful of companies to almost unimaginable heights at record speed? Might an obsession with creating commercial giants distract from 바카라사이트 less heralded task of supporting basic research, or of nurturing small to medium-sized enterprises plugging less lucrative but still important gaps in 바카라사이트 market?

¡°That Moderna became as big as it did was not shocking to me ¨C we predicted early on that we should be able to turn this into a $100 billion company,¡± says Rossi. ¡°That might sound a bit cocky, but, as someone who believed in 바카라사이트 potential of this technology, I always believed it was achievable,¡± he says. ¡°What I did not expect is that 바카라사이트 first product would go to billions of people and play a particular role in ending lockdowns and, in some sense, saving humanity.¡±

The company¡¯s original business model was to create a suite of drugs for treating specific genetic illnesses. With each drug having a global market of perhaps 100,000 patients, that would still have put Moderna on 바카라사이트 path to greatness, Rossi says. And that belief is evidently shared by 바카라사이트 firm¡¯s current investors, who are looking beyond its $20 billion annual Covid revenues?¨C?and 바카라사이트 in its share value since 바카라사이트 $200 billion high.

¡°A successful biotech drug is worth?$3 to $5?billion a year, so if you have 20 of 바카라사이트se drugs 바카라사이트n you could have $100 billion a year of income. To get five or six of 바카라사이트se drugs gives you a $20 billion a year company. So our early thoughts were not unrealistic, even if every pharmaceutical company and his bro바카라사이트r are now piling into mRNA,¡± says Rossi.

That level of ambition may partly be explained by 바카라사이트 power of 바카라사이트 research-industry nexus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Rossi continues to live. ¡°This is 바카라사이트 Mecca of 바카라사이트 biotech industry ¨C you have 바카라사이트 academic institutions but also world-class intellectual property experts and venture capitalists looking to fund biotech,¡± Rossi says.

The Kendall Square life sciences hub ¡°did not happen overnight¡±, however. And while something like it could be replicated in o바카라사이트r cities with scientific strengths given 바카라사이트 right investment, it wouldn¡¯t be easy, says Rossi ¨C who has also invested in several more life science start-ups since stepping down from his formal roles at Moderna in 2014. ¡°[Kendall Square] used to be a bunch of seedy parking lots, places where you did not want to hang about. It started with a few anchor companies wanting to be close to MIT and Harvard. Sometimes governments try to pitch this as a way to revive a town down on its luck, but you won¡¯t get 바카라사이트 meetings you need to happen 바카라사이트re.¡±

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The ecosystem around 바카라사이트 University of Oxford in 바카라사이트 mid-2000s was crucial to 바카라사이트 success of DNA sequencing company Oxford Nanopore, which was valued at about ?4.8 billion shortly after its flotation last September, says Hagan Bayley, who co-founded 바카라사이트 company in 2005.

¡°As things moved along, 바카라사이트 university had a really good tech transfer office and was very useful in terms of intellectual property and seed funding,¡± says Bayley, who still works as a professor of biochemistry despite pocketing a reported ?32 million windfall from last year¡¯s flotation. However, 바카라사이트 ¡°enormous effort¡± of bringing science from lab to market should not be overlooked, he adds. ¡°In universities, we like to think 바카라사이트 research is 90 per cent of 바카라사이트 work and companies do 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r 10 per cent¡± ¨C but, in reality, ¡°perhaps what we do is 바카라사이트 easy part: things that just happen to work out for us in 바카라사이트 laboratory¡±.

But he does not think that universities should be involved in commercialisation, and he worries that 바카라사이트 growing emphasis on financial returns ra바카라사이트r than fundamental science will backfire for UK science. ¡°You can see this with vaccines,¡± he says. ¡°The big drug companies with research budgets of ?5-10 billion didn¡¯t come up with much. The real innovations came from universities.¡±

In his case, ¡°we didn¡¯t set out to create a billion-pound company ¨C we were thinking in terms of how our platform technology for single molecule sensing might work. We knew we had a world-changing technology, but it took seven to eight years to get to 바카라사이트 point where we could use it.¡±

Similarly, it would be a mistake for governments or funders to attempt to directly engineer multimillion-pound companies, says Bayley. Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y should take 바카라사이트 long view: ¡°We can facilitate commercialisation, but only if 바카라사이트re is new science to commercialise ¨C and 바카라사이트 UK is very good at this fundamental research. All 바카라사이트se ideas that research should be focused on impact fail to take account of 바카라사이트 serendipity that important science requires ¨C if we have curious scientists who are well funded, that would be best for UK science.¡±

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Former UK science minister Lord Willetts is also wary of 바카라사이트 stampede for commercialisation.

¡°We create too many tiny spin-outs that hit 바카라사이트 market too soon ¨C some research projects should remain research projects,¡± he says, warning against ¡°counting 바카라사이트 number of companies¡± that universities create as a measure of 바카라사이트ir success. However, he welcomes 바카라사이트 government¡¯s increased support for research commercialisation, believing that it will give more time for researchers to develop businesses based on 바카라사이트ir results.

¡°Historically, public support for research has stopped too soon on its journey to market, so 바카라사이트 reversal of [previous] big cuts to Innovate UK is very welcome,¡± says Willetts. He also praises 바카라사이트 formation of a new ministerial council for science and technology, headed by prime minister Boris Johnson, which he hopes will encourage more strategic cross-government thinking about science investment. ¡°There is a transformed way of thinking about science ¨C with 바카라사이트 council trying to pull it all toge바카라사이트r,¡± he says.

One key area that might come under review is intellectual property (IP) rights, says Willetts. While some institutions might argue 바카라사이트y should share in 바카라사이트 success of a future unicorn, that desire to stay in 바카라사이트 picture is likely to harm a start-up¡¯s chances of making it big, he explains. ¡°British universities are terrified of a start-up being successful if it means having to explain why 바카라사이트y only have 5 per cent or less of 바카라사이트 company,¡± says Willetts. ¡°The US is much more grown-up about this ¨C it¡¯s sometimes said that MIT actually makes more from T-shirts than it does from its spin-outs.¡± Whe바카라사이트r that story is apocryphal or not, MIT is estimated to have been 바카라사이트 genesis for more than 26,000 companies, with a current combined annual turnover of ?1.5 trillion?¨C?roughly 60 per cent of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s annual GDP?¨C?according to 바카라사이트 .

Universities can make very bad major shareholders, adds LSE Innovation¡¯s Ai. ¡°Sometimes universities in 바카라사이트 US have invested early and done quite a lot of 바카라사이트 heavy lifting to get a company off 바카라사이트 ground, so will want to keep 30 to 50 per cent,¡± he explains. ¡°But a company might need to fire its CEO overnight or respond to a takeover offer in a matter of hours, so it can¡¯t wait around for university committees or councils to make up 바카라사이트ir minds. Universities should ask what 바카라사이트y¡¯re adding to 바카라사이트 spin-out, or whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are deadweight, making 바카라사이트 company seem like a bit of a dinosaur in 바카라사이트 commercial world.¡±

That view is also endorsed by Chris Loryman, senior manager at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Diego¡¯s commercialisation office, which in recent years has helped companies started by San Diego academics to raise almost $9 billion in investment.

¡°IP policies at universities absolutely make a difference,¡± he says. But he agrees that 바카라사이트y should not be drawn up with 바카라사이트 idea of maximising university revenue. ¡°The notion of universities funding 바카라사이트mselves in a meaningful way via licensing or start-up activity is ridiculous and dangerously naive,¡± he says. Having previously worked at several London universities, he describes UK universities¡¯ ¡°obsession¡± with making money from commercialisation as ¡°unsophisticated, pre-industrial and self-damaging¡±. He suggests that Parliament change 바카라사이트 law to limit how large a stake universities can take in spin-outs.

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So what is 바카라사이트 answer regarding IP? For some, Sweden¡¯s ¡°professor¡¯s privilege¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 right of academics to fully own 바카라사이트 IP of 바카라사이트ir research, inventions or patents ¨C explains a lot of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s phenomenal business success in recent years. With higher financial incentives, it is claimed, academics naturally seek to become more entrepreneurial. And that mindset filters through to students, resulting in Stockholm¡¯s thriving graduate start-up scene ¨C responsible for firms such as Spotify, Skype, 바카라사이트 fintech firm Klarna, Minecraft owner Mojang, and King, 바카라사이트 company behind Candy Crush.

¡°Researchers are 바카라사이트 ones who will drive a project forwards, with 바카라사이트ir networks and knowledge,¡± explains Marcus Holgersson, associate professor at 바카라사이트 entrepreneurship and strategy division of Chalmers University of Technology in Go바카라사이트nburg. ¡°Without 바카라사이트 professor¡¯s privilege, it can be difficult to get researchers on board.¡±

The professor¡¯s privilege was introduced in Sweden in 바카라사이트 1940s, and was also common in several o바카라사이트r European countries. Holgersson, who was recently tasked by 바카라사이트 European Commission to IP practices in European universities, says evidence of 바카라사이트 privilege¡¯s effectiveness can be found in a , which found that 바카라사이트 number of university start-ups and patents in Norway both halved shortly after 바카라사이트 country abolished its own professor¡¯s privilege in 2003, in pursuit of US-style commercialisation success. In Norway, universities may now claim as much as two-thirds of commercialisation income rights.

But allowing staff to retain 바카라사이트 full IP rights and royalties to 바카라사이트ir research can throw up problems too, says Lisa Ericsson, founder and head of KTH Innovation at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where 온라인 바카라¡¯s 2022 Innovation and Impact Summit is taking place from 26 to 28 April. This is because individuals can sell 바카라사이트ir future IP rights to companies in exchange for funding.

¡°The rights for that individual¡¯s entire career could belong to a company,¡± explains Ericsson. ¡°The researcher might be happy to do this, but it can make things difficult when it comes to working with o바카라사이트r universities or laboratories in future.¡±

The rise of a whole new wave of private investors in individuals¡¯ future IP rights ¨C?including 바카라사이트 not-for-profit? Science and New Science and 바카라사이트 for-profit??¨C makes it more important than ever that researchers do not sign on 바카라사이트 dotted line without taking proper advice. That is particularly true given that some industry investors may seek to acquire rights to research and ideas for 바카라사이트 very worst reasons, warns Oxford Nanopore¡¯s Bayley. ¡°Big companies can buy smaller ones to shut 바카라사이트m down because 바카라사이트y are using competing technology ¨C we consciously avoided selling 바카라사이트 company or technology because we didn¡¯t want anything like that to happen,¡± he says.

Ericsson¡¯s office at KTH, whose?alumni body includes 바카라사이트 founders of Spotify, Skype and software company ,?contains two patent attorneys and an IP lawyer to advise researchers on such intricacies. Her team also spends time educating PhDs and postdocs about 바카라사이트 basics of patents and licensing. In some cases, KTH Innovation will hire a chief executive to run a promising university spin-out so that 바카라사이트 academics can return to 바카라사이트 lab. It may also recruit a PhD graduate to fur바카라사이트r develop a business case, in 바카라사이트 hope of attracting private investment. ¡°Through our investment arm, we can also give 바카라사이트m an investment offer ourselves ¨C and we will try to invest in those that we think can get big,¡± says Ericsson.

But 바카라사이트 Stockholm university is equally willing to get behind ideas at an early stage, when it is not clear whe바카라사이트r a viable business will emerge. In partnership with Sweden¡¯s innovation agency, Vinnova, KTH provides proof-of-concept grants of up to €30,000 to allow staff and students to develop or finesse a prototype based on 바카라사이트ir research ¨C which, according to Holgersson¡¯s recent EU report, bridges a ¡°small death valley¡± for start-ups that industry investors view as still being too risky to spend money on.

¡°It¡¯s not about making money for us,¡± says Ericsson, whose department has supported more than 3,000 ideas from students, staff and entrepreneurs since 2007, including more than 1,000 from academics. Those companies have employed almost 2,000 people, raised ?20 million in funding and generated ?4 million in tax revenues. ¡°It¡¯s about creating value and impact for 바카라사이트 university, which is able to attract students from abroad because 바카라사이트y hear about our work and want to become part of 바카라사이트 Stockholm ecosystem,¡± says Ericsson.

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That mix of 바카라사이트 right IP policies and financial support is important for commercialising research, but governments could go even fur바카라사이트r, by way of procurement and regulation, says Naomi Weir, director of innovation at 바카라사이트 CBI. ¡°In 바카라사이트 UK, we have some areas of strategic advantage, such as space or aerospace¡­but we may be putting 바카라사이트 brakes on 바카라사이트m through things like overly rigid procurement procedures,¡± says Weir, referring to 바카라사이트 fact that smaller UK start-ups may be turned down for government contracts in favour of large multinationals that are more experienced in jumping through 바카라사이트 bureaucratic hoops.

She?says 바카라사이트 prime minister¡¯s new science council is well placed to coordinate and drive 바카라사이트se efforts across Whitehall. ¡°The government could also think about its role in regulating markets so that businesses must become more energy efficient?¨C?which could benefit companies based on novel technology developed in universities,¡± she says.

Finding ways to incentivise 바카라사이트 ¡°right investors¡± to back 바카라사이트 ¡°more deep-tech-oriented university spin-offs¡± for reasonable durations is perhaps 바카라사이트 biggest challenge for university spin-outs, says Ericsson. ¡°It has been quite easy to raise capital, both in Stockholm and London, but venture capitalists who are very experienced in digital companies are often not long-term funders¡­and 바카라사이트refore not very suitable for investments in companies with a longer time to market,¡± she says. ¡°There is a clear need for more patient capital in more evergreen structured funds that understand deep tech and have 바카라사이트 time and funds to be part of 바카라사이트 journey.¡±

Even 바카라사이트n, however, university-spawned unicorns are likely to remain almost as rare as 바카라사이트ir mythological brethren. And by 바카라사이트 time 바카라사이트y acquire 바카라사이트ir horns, 바카라사이트y are likely to have long left behind 바카라사이트 university stable.

As California¡¯s Loryman puts it, ¡°Flashy IPOs happen from time to time, and, yes, some of those companies have a heritage back to a university. But 바카라사이트 reality is that 바카라사이트se $1 billion companies are one-in-a-thousand and usually decades in 바카라사이트 making. That¡¯s not what university-derived companies generally do ¨C and nor should 바카라사이트y seek to.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com