“So what? Who cares? Why you?” These are the three questions asked by entrepreneurship expert, Idella Yamben, to anyone looking to find a job, change careers, or start a small business. Yamben cites these as critical components of entrepreneurship in every day life, although entrepreneurship is often thought of in relation to small businesses. Entrepreneurship is all the rage, as seen in shows like “Shark Tank” where start-up businesses seek investors and often face harsh criticism. Its popularity has quickly spread to Emory’s own college campus, although it fortunately does not include the cruel critique and tears of reality television. Most people assume entrepreneurship is simply a fancier name for business, but what really makes entrepreneurship different from traditional business? Risk, initiative, and creating something new. These qualities have been the catalyst for the creation of thousands of businesses all over the world, with renewed interest after the global financial crisis. Naturally, Goizueta Business School is a front-runner in entrepreneurial development on campus, and numerous other organizations from across Emory’s campus are beginning to do the same. Emory has created a committee devoted to entrepreneurial development, the Committee on Undergraduate Student Entrepreneurship (see the announcement here). This Committee created the
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Blog posts to be included in the ORA Newsletter blog site
Rare Disease Day 2016
February 29th occurs once out of every 1461 days. It makes sense that we celebrate Rare Disease Day on the rarest date on our calendar. There are many diseases and disorders which occur at a significantly lower rate than 1 in 1461, while yet having a great impact on lives of those afflicted. 2016 marks the ninth year that the international rare disease community celebrates Rare Disease Day, an event started to raise awareness for these diseases and disorders. In the USA, a rare disease is one which affects fewer than 200,000 Americans at any given time. Rare diseases can be not only difficult to treat, but to diagnose. The over 6,000 identified rare diseases include a broad array of disorders and symptoms that vary not only between diseases but between patients suffering from the same disease. Common symptoms can mask underlying rare diseases and lead to misdiagnosis or delayed treatment. For most of these diseases, there are no effective cures available. Emory researchers have developed several currently available technologies addressing rare and orphan diseases including fragile X syndrome, diabetes insipidus and more. One of the most notable rare disease treatments was developed by a research team led by Emory
Continue readingPartnering: Turning Over Stones
There are several conferences to which many members of the technology transfer industry attend. They include LES Annual Meeting, JP Morgan Healthcare, BIO International Convention, AUTM Annual Meeting, as well as several others. Which conferences are attended vary across offices, but one of the largest, most used functions of these conferences is the partnering meeting. Partnering meetings allow face-to-face conversations between members of different organizations that have mutual interests. Some call it “speed dating”—each meeting is scheduled for approximately 30 minutes and they may run back-to-back throughout the day (with little or no breaks for the adventurous). For some it’s tiring, others exhilarating, but it’s always a great way to make connections. Most conferences utilize an online system to schedule meetings. The systems have improved over the years, some allowing full customization of individual and organizational profiles, uploading of documents and videos, and contacting individuals in other organizations. Partnering systems are highly convenient because they allow individuals to lay out a schedule and confirm topics of discussion before arriving at the conference. It is important to ensure the people you are contacting are appropriate for your areas of interest and will make for a productive conversation. There can be as
Continue readingGeorgia BIO Highlights Emory Startups & Staff at Annual Awards Gala
Each year Georgia BIO, a non-profit organization that promotes the interests and growth of the life sciences industry in Georgia, recognizes Georgia companies, innovators, and leaders at their annual awards gala. Held at the Fox Theater’s Egyptian Ballroom, the event provides an opportunity for the Georgia Life Sciences community to get together, celebrate, and recognize successes from the past year. The 2016 edition of the program saw numerous Emory-related companies honored as well as two distinguished members of the OTT team. Georgia BIO Deal of the Year – The annual Deal of the Year awards recognize transactions by life sciences companies in Georgia such as financings, partnering agreements, and government grants that are significant to the state’s industry development. Two Emory-related ventures were included in the 2016 edition: EGL Genetic Diagnostics LLC is a joint venture between Emory University and Eurofins and the merger of Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. and Emory startup RFS Pharma, LLC. Georgia BIO Community Awards – The Community Awards recognize individuals, companies and organizations for significant contributions to Georgia’s life sciences industry. This year OTT’s Director of Faculty & Startup Support, Kevin Lei, MBA, a 28 year veteran of the life sciences industry was honored for his
Continue readingVC101 – Venture Capital for Beginners
Osage Partners recently visited to provide our inventors with a primer on venture capital. Kristin Leute and Stephanie Stehman from Osage provided an interesting talk and discussion after. A great crowd showed up at Whitehead Auditorium for the talk but we know that not everyone could make it, so we wanted to provide some takeaways from the talk that might be useful for those looking into getting their startup funded by venture capital firms. Venture capital (VC) might sound scary to some. Entrepreneurs often worry that VCs want control over their company or will try to usurp their authority. Venture capitalists do have specific desires in exchange for funding but they rarely want control of the company they fund. They will sometimes step in if the company is not doing well because they are financially accountable, but this control is not the goal. Venture capitalists also want liquidation preference so that they have rights to get money before others and they usually want some stock or ownership of the company. VC funding will dilute the founders’ ownership of the company but that’s not a bad thing! Some dilution is good, but too much dilution can be bad. When examining university
Continue readingThe Magic of Science and How TMS Saved Me
I used to hate magic shows. Nothing frustrated me more than trying to figure out how the guy removes the beautiful woman from the box on stage, only to wow the audience moments later by revealing her—in the flesh—sitting in the theatre’s balcony with a big smile on her face. Magicians will never tell you their secrets, they will never disclose how the rabbit got in the hat, much less how he pulled the poor thing out of it. The stock answer, if ever asked, is a smug, “It’s just magic!” Many years ago I attended a magic show where the showman singled me out of the audience to be his “assistant.” I climbed up on the stage quite sure I’d get the inside scoop on his tricks. I struggled to concentrate while watching the magician’s nimble hands snip a rope into two parts and then deftly join the cut ends back together. When he ceremoniously yanked on the rope to prove to me and to the audience how fantastic his stunt really was, my frustration at not catching how he pulled it off settled it — I was done with magic and magicians! I stopped attending magic shows from
Continue readingIt Started in My Basement, Now it Improves Patients Lives
Charles M. Epstein, MD, or “Chip” as he’s been known since childhood, is a professor of neurology specializing in epilepsy and the founder of the Laboratory for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). He is also a co-inventor for the technology that is utilized by Emory partner Neuronetics, Inc in their NeuroStar TMS Therapy® for treating depression. Neuronetics has safely administered more than 10,000 NeuroStar TMS Therapy® treatments with clinically significant results: among patients studied, 54 percent responded to the therapy and 33 percent found their depression in remission. Neurostar wasn’t the first technology you were involved with. Could you tell us about some of your previous technologies? NeoControl was actually the first magnetic technology that went on the market thanks to Neotonus. This company was the first to develop TMS to treat urinary incontinence in women. World wide, women have been more prone to urinary incontinence than men. This was especially true after childbirth and before modern obstetrics. Using electromagnetics, treatment is much more comfortable than prior methods. The magnets work right through clothing and are essentially painless. This was the foundation of Neotonus’ technology, NeoControl. Unlike brain stimulation, TMS in the pelvic area takes even more power and without our
Continue readingCase Managers’ Reflect on Their Time with TMS
OTT’s first disclosure from Charles “Chip” Epstein, MD related to his work with an iron core stimulation coil was received in the spring of 1995, with a second disclosure related to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) coming along in late 1997. These were not only the early days for the technology but also the early days of our budding Tech Transfer office. The technology looked promising since it was both the first magnetic stimulator to utilize an iron core design which enabled improvements in power efficiency, heat generation, focal stimulation, and costs. Recognizing these benefits, OTT decided to pursue patent protection resulting in two primary patent families; one focused on stimulating the nervous system and the other on stimulating the brain. These two disclosures formed the foundation of technologies licensed to two Emory start-ups Neotonus and Neuronetics and the winding path for a successful TMS treatment for depression began. Originally Neotonus licensed both patent families in late 1996 and launched into product development. The company’s primary focus was on their NeoControl system which was a non-surgical, non-invasive, painless treatment for female urinary incontinence also involving TMS. The system received FDA clearance in 2000. When Neuronetics came along in 2001, it was
Continue readingThe Personal Side of a Tech Transfer Patient Video
AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers), our professional association, started a program called “Put a Face On It” three years ago with the goal of making a real-world connection between our members’ work and its ability to transform people’s lives. We were excited for the opportunity. Our first project was about a cardiac imaging toolbox. We had a great story – the inventor and patient were the very same person; he had his own invention used on himself before his by-pass surgery (see the video here). The story has been a rousing success. At Emory we are blessed to have a number of worthwhile innovations that have made a difference in people’s lives. The challenge for video number two was selecting one of those stories and finding a willing patient to participate. It’s not as easy as it might sound at first. If the technology is a diagnostic – How do you find a patient when the technology was just a part of the process to get treatment? If the technology is a surgical device – Does the patient know it was used and do they understand the importance of its role? One of the ideas floated after much discussion
Continue readingThe 12 Days of Christmas OTTer Style
On the first day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, A new disclosure form On the second day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Two patent applications On the third day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Three new blog posts On the fourth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Four featured innovations On the fifth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Five Licenses to sign! On the sixth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Six new start-up projects On the seventh day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Seven commercial evaluation reports On the eighth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Eight marketing contacts On the ninth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Nine clinical trial agreements On the tenth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Ten new emails On the eleventh day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Eleven non-disclosure agreements On the twelfth day of Christmas, my OTTer gave to me, Twelve new meeting requests
Continue readingFrom the Director: A Year of Celebration Comes to a Close
It has been a year of reflection and celebration of technology transfer at Emory. We hope you have enjoyed learning a bit more about Emory OTT as much as we have enjoyed sharing them with you. Twelve months ago I kicked off our 30th anniversary with a look back over the years. As the year comes to a close, I want to take some time to explore where I see our profession and office headed in the next decade. . I believe the profession and business environment surrounding technology transfer will begin to calm down in the future. Since the onset of the global financial crisis the world has become infatuated with technology transfer and everything related to commercialization in hopes that it will improve their own economic prosperity. A great number of initiatives are popping up all over the country and within our respective states and communities in order to support commercialization; some of that will have a real impact and some of it will not. I think over the next ten years the proliferation of such new programs and efforts will likely slow down. Some programs that are not impactful will fade away and I think those programs
Continue readingOverview of the U. S. Patent Process
Getting Started: The Provisional Patent Application There are multiple avenues to consider when filing a patent based on the specifics of the situation and the inventors. The first available option (and the one most commonly used at universities) is a provisional application. The importance of provisional patents stems from the patent system’s usage of a first to file system, which dictates that the first party to file a patent for a technology, rather than the first party to invent the technology, is granted the rights for the invention. Unlike a non-provisional patent application, a provisional application is not examined and does not need to comply with formal requirements, but should include the most detailed description possible in order to ensure the best coverage for the technology. The filing fees for a provisional patent application are considerably lower than other patenting options and allow for establishing an earlier effective filing date. A provisional application lasts for 12 months and will otherwise become abandoned if not converted into an examinable patent application (e.g., a non-provisional or PCT application). During the 12 month provisional time period, the invention may be identified with the term “patent pending.” Types of Examinable Patent Applications There are
Continue readingFrom the Director: Advise to Faculty Considering a Start-up
What is the biggest challenge start-ups face today? The biggest challenge our new startups face is finding an entrepreneur with time and business expertise. There are so many resources available to entrepreneurs today that weren’t here just a few years ago, but it still takes time to explore them, have a conversation, identify an opportunity and pursue it. We often talk about how the lack of business experience handicaps a well-intentioned faculty entrepreneur, but the reality is that their availability is just as restrictive when they have full-time commitments to teach, research and/or see patients. On the other hand, attracting an external entrepreneur to a nascent startup is just as difficult, so we often have to rely on a faculty entrepreneur for some period of time. What are some main goals researchers have when contemplating forming a start-up? A common goal is simply attaining additional funding to move their technology forward. Researchers, wanting to become entrepreneurs, talk to a lot of people about their technology and they often hear, “It’s an interesting idea, but have you created or tested a prototype yet?” Quite often researchers have to form a company just to find translational funding to do this kind of
Continue readingGlobal Access: Guiding Principles
Universities play an active role in developing medicines, screening technologies, and other leading medical and public health tools that are instrumental in improving health worldwide. While these are widely available in developed countries, in poorer societies, access to vital technologies like these is directly tied to the distribution and patenting decisions made by the universities. Who are these products distributed to? Will they be sold in bulk for societies that can’t afford high prices? The fate of the distribution of a single drug or screening test can lie in these decisions. Drugs and other health discoveries should be equally available in poorer countries that don’t necessarily have the same resources as wealthier countries, students thought. That’s why, in 2003, Emory students formed the Emory Global Access Partnership, a chapter of the non-profit organization Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, which is aimed to promote awareness of these issues. The organization works with universities to ensure that medical research is accessible worldwide. Emory’s Global Access Partnership works to make sure that health innovations developed within the university are equally available in all parts of the world. Since its inception, the Global Access Partnership has engaged in university lobbying, education and policy creation.
Continue readingAnatomy of a Patent Application
One of the most common ways to protect certain types of inventions (like medical devices or new chemical compositions) is through patenting. This guide quickly explains the parts of a United States patent application which is filled through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Generally, patents are divided into seven sections. The sections are as follows: Title Background: A description of the problem the invention hopes to solve, along with information on any previous inventions of a similar function (prior art). Summary: A concise description of the claims. Description of Drawings: A list of drawings that appear within the application. Description of Invention: A specific and often detailed description explaining how another could make and/or use the invention. Claim Set: The limits of patent protection; essentially, what aspects of the invention are going to be protected under the patent. Abstract: A general description of the invention under 150 words. In order to understand these sections, the following additional terms may be helpful: Application Number (or Serial Number): A unique number assigned to identify the patent application by the USPTO. This number has a specific format of eight digits; the first two digits are the series and the remaining
Continue readingSix Things to Know About Copyrights
There are plenty of myths and confusion around copyright law. Many people aren’t sure what a copyright covers and how it differs from other types of intellectual property (IP) protection like patents or trademarks. Although a blog is too short to go into all the specific details of copyright law, we hope to hit a few key highpoints here and help clarify what a copyright is and its function. A copyright differs from a patent or trademark in that it protects an original work of authorship. A patent protects inventions or discoveries and a trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs identifying the source of the goods or services. In the United States, under the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C §§ 101 et seq) computer programs are literary works and may be filed as such, meaning that software is often protected via a copyright. You do not need to register or publish your work to gain copyright protection. A work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. A copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems or methods of doing
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