Press Releases
Technology Development Accelerator Fund Proves Boon to Research With Commercial Potential
Harvard University’s Proof-of-Concept Program Speeds Development of New Technologies, Builds Bridges to Industry, Keeps Pace with US Innovation Agenda
=New Awards Announced for 2010=
Cambridge, MA, December 20, 2010 - Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development (OTD) today announced the 2010 awards made by the Technology Development Accelerator Fund, an innovative program designed to speed the development of early-stage technologies emanating from the University’s biomedical and life science research enterprise and position them for licensing and commercialization.
The Accelerator Fund is designed to bridge the development gap (also known as the “valley of death”), a common obstacle encountered by university scientists that causes promising early-stage inventions and research projects to languish for lack of validation and what is known as “proof-of-concept.” Such proof-of-concept is essential to attract investment and development partners from industry and the venture community. When confronted with the development gap, many promising university research projects simply grind to a halt for lack of additional funding.
Launched in 2007 with funds raised from private donations, Harvard’s Accelerator Fund was designed to address this problem and overcome the development gap by providing Harvard scientists with the bridge financing required to conduct post-discovery/pre-commercialization research comprising key experiments aimed at generating proof-of-concept and satisfying the validation criteria necessary to attract investment by industrial partners.
In its first year of operation, the Accelerator funded six research projects at a total budget of $1.3 million. Nine projects were funded in 2008 at a cumulative budget of $1.5 million. Eight projects were funded in 2009 at a total budget of $1.2 million. Five projects were selected for funding in 2010 in such areas as cancer, autoimmune disorders and nerve regeneration, at a total budget of $1 million (see list of 2010 recipients, below).
“The core objective of the Accelerator Fund is to expand partnering with industry in order to develop emerging Harvard technologies into new products that meet unmet needs for the good of the public and society,” remarked Steven E. Hyman, M.D., Provost, Harvard University. “We are delighted that the Accelerator Fund has been – and continues to be – a trailblazer, pioneering the kind of proof-of-concept funding that is aimed at stimulating the effective commercialization of early-stage research by bridging the development gap. As one of the world's foremost research universities, Harvard has a special obligation to exercise leadership and foster the development and translation of promising new technologies that could benefit the public and society as a whole.”
For nearly 30 years, the Bayh-Dole Act provided the framework necessary for American universities to protect and retain rights to intellectual property covering new inventions and discoveries made by their faculty in the course of performing government sponsored research, and to grant licenses to companies that agree to undertake the development of commercial products based on that intellectual property. The traditional licensing model has worked well in many cases and for many universities, but is less successful in those (more typical) cases where early discoveries have yet to achieve proof-of-concept. Before such discoveries can be positioned to attract private capital for commercial development, further research must be performed at the university level in order to establish proof-of-concept. Historically, however, there has been little or no funding available for such research. The Obama administration has recognized this as a major problem, and is actively exploring ways in which the economic effect of government funded university research can act as a force multiplier, especially through the adoption and support of university proof-of-concept centers.
“As a leading research university, Harvard has a unique opportunity to foster and expedite the development of nascent technologies that could benefit the public,” said Isaac T. Kohlberg, Senior Associate Provost and Chief Technology Development Officer. “The Accelerator Fund helps us fulfill of our mission to ensure that promising new technologies originating at Harvard won’t get stuck in the development gap, but rather will progress to the point where they become investment-grade opportunities, ripe for licensing and collaboration with industry, and do not stagnate and wilt on the vine.”
Harvard’s Office of Technology Development is responsible for managing the Technology Development Accelerator Fund. “The Accelerator has provided an innovative mechanism to fund early stage research and navigate the complex and challenging transition between discovery and commercialization, and push new inventions made by Harvard’s faculty out of the lab and into the marketplace,” said Curtis T. Keith, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of the Accelerator Fund. “Once you’ve established proof-of-concept, you’ve added value and increased the probability that industry will view the emerging technology as an attractive licensing and development opportunity,” Keith said. “As a result, we hope to generate more partnership and venture ready technologies and, in the process, more research collaborations with industry.”
The Accelerator also benefits from input provided a dedicated Advisory Committee, appointed by Harvard University’s Provost. Comprised of recognized scientific and thought leaders from the Harvard faculty, industry and the venture capital community (see committee members, below), the Advisory Committee applies well-established, stringent criteria to help select the most promising, impactful proposals for funding submitted by Harvard scientists as part of a competitive peer-reviewed process.
About Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development
Harvard's Office of Technology Development (OTD) is responsible for all activities pertaining to the evaluation, patenting and licensing of new inventions and discoveries made at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School. OTD also serves to further the development of Harvard technologies through the establishment of sponsored research collaborations with industry. OTD’s mission is to promote the public good by fostering innovation and translating new inventions made at Harvard into useful products available and beneficial to society.
The Accelerator Fund Advisory Committee:
Julian Adams, Ph.D., President of Research & Development, Infinity Pharmaceuticals
Joan Brugge, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School
*William Chin, M.D. Executive Dean for Research, Harvard Medical School
*Charlie Cohen, Ph.D., Managing Director at Advent Healthcare
Doug Cole, M.D., General Partner at Flagship Ventures
*Doug Melton, Ph.D., Co-Chair, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology; Investigator, HHMI
Chris Mirabelli, Ph.D., Managing Director at Healthcare Ventures
*Peter Mueller, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
*Newly appointed in 2010
2010 Recipients of Accelerator Fund Awards:
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Beckwith, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, American Cancer Society Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Project: Screen for Inhibitors of Both Major Disulfide Bond Formation Pathways Used by Bacterial Pathogens
Principal Investigator: John Flanagan, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Professor of Cell Biology, Cell Biology
Project: Design and Testing of a New Approach to Promote CNS Axon Regeneration
Principal Investigators: Richard Losick, Ph.D., Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology; and Roberto Kolter, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Project: Developing D -Amino Acids as Anti-Biofilm Drugs
Principal Investigators: Andrew McMahon, Ph.D., Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology; and Lee Rubin, Ph.D., Director of Translational Medicine of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Project: Smoothened Inhibitors for Cancer Therapy
Principal Investigator: Ulrich Von Andrian, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor of Immunopathology, Pathology
Project: Using Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells to Treat Autoimmune Disorders