Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, viral pneumonia, and viral death in infants both in the U.S. and worldwide. Almost all children will have been infected with RSV by their second birthday. And yet, this killer of 200,000 infants annually was not the focus of as much laboratory research as might be expected.
Martin Moore, PhD, an assistant professor in Emory’s infectious disease unit has developed two model systems. The first is a mouse model of RSV pathogenesis that replicates some features of RSV bronchiolitis, including the proliferation of mucus in the airways. The second model is an efficient RSV reverse genetics system, to study RSV molecular biology and develop novel live attenuated RSV vaccine candidates. Moore has gone beyond basic research, however, to a creative type of lab entrepreneurism, inventing and distributing the tools needed to study RSV. “We have a culture of invention in the lab,” he says. “Everyone in the lab is involved in technology development. We talk about tech transfer every week, it’s central to the lab, and I actually think it creates optimism and excitement for trainees in a time of prevailing pessimism due to funding.”
These materials—largely research reagents and RSV strains—are licensed to companies for fees, which are generally small. “I didn’t actually expect this to become an alternative funding source,” Moore says. “But it builds up … companies now contact me.” “So, in addition to licensing, the research tool distribution has led to research contracts” says Moore.
The extra funding allows Moore to support post-docs in his lab, continuing the cycle of discovery and innovation. ” We invented something and got it to as many companies as possible to facilitate vaccines and antivirals, which is a lot better than having research materials just sitting in lab freezers.”
Generating unique reagents is advantageous for NIH grants, too. “Putting technology development at the front end of the goal of the lab, rather than seeing technology as a by-product of basic research, is enabling us to build a RSV and vaccine research program on multiple funding sources,” he says.
Quick Stats:
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Marty’s RSV tools portfolio compromises 12 different engineered plasmids and virus strains
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In just over two years, these tools have resulted in 38 executed licenses *
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The tools have been shared with 14 academic research groups and 12 companies
* Some companies have multiple licenses covering separate items in the portfolio
Adapted from a previous feature, the original is available on this web page.