The role of Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development (OTD) is to ensure that leading faculty members’ inventions are well-protected from the standpoint of patent filings; licensed to dedicated industrial partners; further funded by way of sponsored research agreements; or, in some cases, advanced through the formation of start-up companies. To understand the function of our office – and indeed hundreds more like it at universities, hospitals, and research centers across the United States – consider the situation prior to 1980.
In the 1970s, the U.S. government annual budget for research and development averaged about $75 billion. The federal government held approximately 28,000 patents, but fewer than 5% were licensed for commercial development. Universities had little incentive to commercialize intellectual property (IP), because they did not own the rights. Companies could not get exclusive IP rights, and therefore were reluctant to invest.
The seminal Bayh-Dole Act of Congress in 1980, which the Economist described in 2002 as “perhaps the most inspired piece of legislation to be enacted in America over the past half-century,” permitted universities such as Harvard to own the IP rights to inventions made under federal funding. Accordingly, the OTD is empowered to act as a liaison between Harvard faculty and industry, securing IP rights and commercializing inventions arising from Harvard research.
At Harvard, we take a unique approach to technology transfer. Unlike comparable offices at many other institutions, which are purely transactional in nature, our model is one of deep engagement with our researchers. Members of our business development team have expertise both in science and in the technology industry, bringing the skillset necessary to bridge these two worlds. Building relationships is essential. We meet regularly with Harvard investigators to understand their inventions and make connections to companies. It is increasingly important to faculty members to have a dedicated partner in the OTD, not only to find industry funding to support their research, but also to find real-world applications for their academic pursuits. As the renown Harvard chemist George Whitesides remarked, “Society pays us not to write papers, but ultimately to solve societal problems.”
For promising research that is too early to garner industrial interest, the Harvard OTD also operates two accelerator funds to bridge the gap between innovative research results and the successful development of commercially-relevant products. On the life sciences side, the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator was launched in 2007 and expanded in 2013 through a $50 million gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. It supports up to 12 advanced research projects annually, primarily related to new biomedical therapies and diagnostics. In 2013, OTD launched a similar effort in the physical sciences and engineering, providing support for emerging technologies, such as the organic flow battery licensed in Europe to Green Energy Storage.
It is not easy to change the mindset of a university such as Harvard, which, for most of its 379 years, has focused more on advancing the frontiers of human knowledge than on real-world applications. But through its world-leading faculty, and a dedicated, business-savvy team that integrates sponsored research relationships, technology commercialization and licensing, and accelerator funding, Harvard is on track to be a leader in early-stage technology development.
