[Ip-health] Biotech Transfer Week: US Government Must Take Steps to StrengthenIndustry-Academia Ties, PCAST Report Says

[Ethan Guillen]

http://www.biotechtransferweek.com/issues/2_46/features/151073-1.html

US Government Must Take Steps to Strengthen
Industry-Academia Ties, PCAST Report Says

[December 3, 2008]

By Ben Butkus

WASHINGTON, DC =8B The President=B9s Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology last month issued a report that details the role
university-industry research partnerships play in the nation=B9s economy, a=
nd
provides recommendations on how to improve these relationships to promote a=
n
=B3innovation ecosystem=B2 in the US.

In its report, the group states that the economic and regulatory
environments in the US require significant long-term changes, such as
modifications to the R&D tax credit; urges the government to develop
guidance documents on intellectual property and technology-transfer
practices; and seeks changes to federal tax-exempt policies that it claims
hinder industry-supported research on university campuses.

In addition, the report urges the government to support a model of open
collaboration between industry and academia; to formalize and enhance
connection points between the private and public sectors; and to develop
tools and metrics to better measure the results of research partnerships.

PCAST has submitted the report to the Bush Administration in recent weeks,
and is currently preparing a similar document it plans to deliver to the
transition team for President-elect Barack Obama, the council said.

The report, entitled =B3University-Private Sector Research Partnerships in =
the
Innovation Ecosystem,=B2 was announced and distributed to attendees of a
meeting of the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership at the Nationa=
l
Academies of Sciences, held here this week.

Luis Proenza, president of the University of Akron, Ohio, and co-chair of
the PCAST subcommittee on university-private sector research partnerships
that compiled the report, summarized its key findings and recommendations
during a keynote presentation that kicked off the meeting.

The report compiles information collected by PCAST over the past two years
through meetings with public- and private-sector groups, and briefings with
representatives from more than 20 university-private sector research
partnerships.

The report also contains topics discussed at PCAST meetings in September
2007 and January and April this year, including subcommittee meetings and
site visits to the National Institutes of Health and Arizona State
University, which in recent years has developed a prime example of
public-private research partnerships through its SkySong Innovation Center
in Scottsdale.

Lastly, the report highlights approximately 20 case studies in an attempt t=
o
illustrate best practices and trends in university-industry research
partnerships. Among the case studies are Singapore=B9s Biopolis and
Fusionopolis; the Purdue Discovery Park; the Energy Biosciences Institute;
the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center; the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine=B9s Office of Corporate Alliances; the Gate=
s
Foundation; the Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering; and the Kaufman=
n
Foundation.

=B3R&D does not revolve around only academia or only industry, and the
government plays a huge role.=B2
PCAST divides its report into five general categories: basic research and
innovation; economic and regulatory policies impacting US innovation and
research partnerships; network models of open innovation; connection points
between partners in the =B3innovation ecosystem;=B2 and methods of measurin=
g and
assessing innovation.

In the first area, the report presents statistics showing that universities
represent the primary engine for discovery research that can lead to
innovation, and that the federal government is the primary source of fundin=
g
for such research.

The report argues that the federal government should recognize and maintain
this role even as it explores other partnership models. Speaking about
industry=B9s role, Proenza said during his address that =B3there is a treme=
ndous
opportunity here=B2 for industry to sponsor more research at universities.
Currently industry supports about 5 percent of all academic R&D in the US,
according to the report.

Discussing the distribution of R&D funding, the report said that US industr=
y
surpassed the US government in the early 1980=B9s in total R&D expenditures=
,
and the gap has widened every year since. Industry is now responsible for
approximately 65 percent of all R&D expenditures in the US, according to
PCAST.

In the category of =B3economic and regulatory policies,=B2 PCAST argues tha=
t the
US government should revamp the federal R&D tax credit to create a more
stable and effective incentive for industry to perform R&D. PCAST also
recommends that the government modify or clarify existing federal tax-exemp=
t
policies to ensure they do not unintentionally hinder industry-supported
research conducted on university campuses.

PCAST also suggests that the Department of Commerce, working with the
National Science and Technology Council, develop guidance documents and
educational tools supporting intellectual property and technology-transfer
practices both for university and private-sector partners.

In the area of =B3network models of open innovation,=B2 PCAST recommends th=
at
the NSTC initiate a project to evaluate and possibly implement mechanisms i=
n
which =B2many partners from particular regions, or even worldwide, collabor=
ate
to drive research in specific areas.=B2

And, citing the success of the X Prize Foundation in driving innovation, th=
e
council urges federal agencies to expand the use of cash prizes to encourag=
e
scientists to perform challenging research.

In the section =B3connection points,=B2 PCAST suggests that barriers blocki=
ng
collaborations between industry and academia be limited, either by the
partners themselves or the federal government. One specific recommendation
for this is to =B3formalize and enhance opportunities and incentives for
researchers to have flexibility in moving between academia, industry, and
government,=B2 according to the report.

Lastly, PCAST recommends that federal R&D funding agencies, working with
statistical-analysis agencies such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis,
should =B3develop and apply improved tools and metrics to measure the outpu=
ts
of research partnerships and innovation to guide policies and incentive
structures.=B2

Organizations such as the Association of University Technology Managers,
with the support of partners such as the Kauffman Foundation, National
Governors Association, and American Association of Universities, have been
developing new metrics to gauge tech-transfer output and corporate-sponsore=
d
research performed on university campuses (see BTW, 3/5/2008), but PCAST
argues that this, too, is an area in which the federal government should be
more heavily involved.

Following his presentation, Proenza was asked by an audience member how he
thought the incoming Obama administration would affect R&D policy and
public-private partnerships in the US. Proenza said that it is too early to
tell, but in general =B3you can probably expect to see a stronger focus on
domestic policy and R&D structure.=B2

He added that although the release of the report was timed so that the Bush
administration would receive it, PCAST has also prepared a document to be
delivered to the transition team for the new administration.

Summarizing the report, Proenza told meeting attendees, most of whom were
high-ranking research officials at US research universities and
corporations, that they play an important role in disseminating the
information contained within the report and influencing policy makers to
adopt some of the specific recommendations in coming years.

=B3We all tend to point fingers,=B2 Proenza said. =B3It=B9s important that =
we stop
doing that, and we=B9ve begun that process at UIDP.

=B3R&D does not revolve around only academia or only industry, and the
government plays a huge role,=B2 he added.