Research's Brass Ring INDUSTRY LEADERS HELP INVESTIGATORS GRAB THE ULTIMATE PRIZE: GETTING THEIR DISCOVERIES TO PATIENTS. Jonathan Schneck breathlessly guided a table of industry giants through the background and benefits of his invention: Artificial antigen-presenting cells that are reinfused into the body to help attack specific viral diseases such as HIV, or cancers such as melanoma. The pediatrician-turned-immunologist-and-pathologist had 10 minutes to explain what had taken him and his research colleagues five years to perfect. And, just as important, he had to justify the invention’s commercial value to the heads of pharmaceutical, venture capital and medical device companies eager to take Hopkins discoveries to market. His short, rapid-fire presentation over, Schneck waited for questions and comments that would come like heat-seeking missiles from the table of businessmen. “Individualized therapies are a tough sell,” pointed out C. Thomas Caskey, CEO and president of Cogene Biotech Ventures, and a former vice president for research at Merck. “Investors like the one-pill-fits-all. Can your invention have more mass application?” Someone also asked Schneck if he had production costs in mind. Did he have a business plan? Had he considered whether a tumor might avoid the destructive signals of his cells? Welcome to the Johns Hopkins Medicine Alliance for Science and Technology Development, a no-holds-barred group of helping hands put together to kick-start the institution’s sputtering program of bringing discoveries to the marketplace. “The bottom line,” says Chi Dang, vice dean for research, “is to get honest advice from people who have a proven track record in this business, network the faculty to the outside world and make things happen.” This collection of CEOs and research development experts is just one part of a multipronged technology development reincarnation that also will include a new online application system for filing patent and licensing documents, and a newly commissioned group of faculty researchers who will provide some oversight to the revamped process. The recent track record for marketing intellectual property has produced roller-coaster results. Since 1997, 320 Hopkins Medicine inventions have been licensed, bringing in more than $52.7 million to the University. During that same period, 442 U.S. patents were issued for inventions. But these figures have gradually dwindled from a peak during 1999–2000. The number of licensed discoveries, for example, fell from a high of 112 in 1999 to 50 last year. That the institution’s program to commercialize its discoveries and negotiate technology transfers was in trouble became dramatically apparent last summer. A survey exposed longsimmering frustrations about what faculty perceived as obstacles to moving their inventions to market, negotiating technology transfer agreements and getting information. Last summer, coincidentally, David Hochenbrocht, the hard-charging, successful president and CEO of Sparton, a device-manufacturing firm, arrived at Hopkins to evaluate its research. He came at the behest of biomedical engineer Richard Johns, special advisor to Dean/CEO Edward Miller and a member of Sparton’s board of directors. Johns took Hochenbrocht to see Miller. “David told me how impressed he was with the wealth of research here,” the dean recalls, “and he seemed puzzled that so few of these discoveries were finding their way to market. I asked him what he would do in my shoes. He said, Form a committee of industry heads who could be the pipeline to get faculty research to its ultimate destination—patients. I told him, Do it.” Starting with names suggested by Hochenbrocht, Miller invited more than 40 industry chief executives to serve on a volunteer advisory committee. From the 20 who volunteered, 11 were chosen. The alliance committee convened a two-day meeting last month to set some ground rules and to hear 17 faculty members present their research and exhort their commercial value. First, alliance members debated whether to label faculty research projects as “winners” or “losers” and put all of their weight behind sure-fire commercial successes. But the committee decided that timing was as important as speed, and the prevailing opinion quickly swung back to a softer approach. “If we focus only on those inventions that are instantly marketable,” pointed out Philip Goelet, director of the venture capital firm Red Abbey, “we’d leave 90 percent of the research value here behind. We should have categories that we support: those that are marketable right away, and those we see as worthy but that will take longer to develop.” The committee agreed to assign each worthy research project a champion, a member who will take on the responsibility of getting a product to market or give investigators advice on further developing their research and making it commercial-ready. Still, Hochenbrocht, the committee chair, set a firm objective. “It’s important for this committee to quickly establish credibility with the faculty,” Hochenbrocht stresses. “Our goal is to get at least three inventions to market this year. We’ll either take the products to our own companies, or be the pipeline to connect faculty with other industry firms interested in their discoveries. We must always keep in mind that the patient is waiting.” Then, Jonathan Schneck stepped to the plate. “I was a little surprised by the questions concerning the commercial versatility of our creation,” concedes Schneck, who is looking for a licensing agreement with a company. His invention is aimed at providing immunosuppressed patients with antigen-presenting cells that stimulate the body’s T-cells to target and destroy cancerous cells and those carrying infectious viruses. The treatment might be especially important for patients undergoing chemotherapy, which can destroy the body’s natural antigen-presenting cells, and transplant recipients who are highly susceptible to infections. ”We can build the artificial cells by attaching the protein antigens to beads, and, by using another invention made in our lab along with minor manipulations to the proteins, target a variety of situations,” Schneck explains. “These off-the-shelf artificial cells are cheaper and more efficient than current therapies. We feel our platform is broad enough to attract interest.” Ultimately the committee agreed, and Hochenbrocht assigned Schneck’s project to Craig Smith, president and CEO of Guilford Pharmaceuticals. Of the 17 projects presented to alliance members, most were assigned a champion. This isn’t Schneck’s first brush with technology development. He has a licensing agreement with Becton-Dickinson for one of the molecular compounds attached to the artificial antigen-presenting cells. He, like many other inventors here, has been keenly aware of the institution’s inconsistent efforts to commercialize technology. “We haven’t been aggressive in informing industry of what’s going on here and getting products out to companies,” he says. But Schneck views the alliance’s work as a good first step toward curing what ails the technology-development program. “I think it’s a great undertaking from the University’s perspective, but it’s also going to be a daunting task. The whole program is going to need a lot more resources to improve its track record.” Hochenbrocht knows well that the stakes are high.“There’s no doubt in the committee’s mind that this is the start of authoring something of great value,” he says. “Now, we have to produce.” Industry on Parade: The Alliance David Hochenbrocht, CEO/president, Sparton Corporation C. Thomas Caskey, president/CEO, Cogene BioTech Ventures, Ltd. Craig Smith, chairman, president and CEO, Guilford Pharmaceuticals Paul Citron, retired vice president for technology policy & academic relations Medtronics Inc. Richard W. Newman, vice president advanced solutions, Welch Allyn Phillip Goelet, director, Red Abbey Venture Partners Irving Sherman, retired neurosurgeon Leroy Hood, president, Institute for Systems Biology Charles Sanders, former Chairman/CEO of Glaxo Inc. Peter Soderberg, president/CEO of Welch Allyn W. Leigh Thompson, CEO, Profound Quality Resources Ltd. CHANGE April 9, 2004 Volume 8 Number 4