Dr. Scott Weir, director of the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI), began his talk with a quote from the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation, which sees education and entrepreneurship as two ends of a continuum: “Few universities have established an overall strategy to foster innovation, commercialization, and spillovers.”
IAMI’s strategy for fostering innovation includes a feedback loop for assessing value propositions.
Weir then noted one of the challenges academia faces, after discovering and “de-risking” a new project, is that “we then have to go out and search for and present the concept to a private sector partner to help pay for it.” At the May CCTS Forum, the fourth in a series focused on Innovating in Healthcare, Weir offered several lessons learned in developing public-private partnerships, most recently with BioNovus Innovations LLC, which was formed “to specifically partner with the University of Kansas Cancer Center.” Together, they are bringing a new systemic treatment for bladder cancer, ciclopirox pro, to market.
Stick to your core hypothesis. In the 11 years since its establishment, IAMI has refined its mission statement several times, but remains true to its core hypothesis: to use product development-focused translational science to change the standard of care for pediatric, adolescent, and adult patients suffering from cancer and rare diseases.
Learn from the best. Do your research and implement the best aspects of successful models for turning scientific discoveries into products. Weir named several foundations IAMI has learned from that are doing the same thing. [Editor’s note: Don’t miss the upcoming I-Corps South Regional Training, which will introduce you to the highly successful National Science Foundation approach to bioinnovation and commercialization!]
Look beyond your region for talent. IAMI functions as a “virtual biotech,” meaning they do not allow geographic barriers to get in the way of ensuring they have the talent and expertise they need on their project management team. For instance, their entrepreneur-in-residence, who provides mentorship to research investigators and project teams and helps create “spin outs,” is based in Boston. Thanks to this strategy, IAMI’s leadership can boast more than 200 years of combined pharma industry experience. This unique approach to an academic program structure is receiving recognition nationwide.
Include local, regional, national stakeholders. IAMI works closely with regional science assets and national stakeholders, including University of Kansas (KU) Cancer Center, KU School of Pharmacy, KU Clinical Research Center, and KU Center for Chemical Methodologies and Library Development; Children’s Mercy Kansas City; University of Missouri – Kansas City; Kaufmann Foundation; Silvergate Pharmaceuticals Inc.; BioNovus LLC; and NCATS (see full list of partners)
Seek expert review. IAMI has assembled a “shark tank” of biotech industry leaders from across the country to which they pitch target drug investment theses. Each thesis addresses the unmet medical need and the scientific solution, including summary data; provides a project narrative, a plan from development to market, a marketing plan, and IP agreement(s); and lists the team and advisors.
Coinvest to “de-risk” projects. In return, IAMI has first rights to negotiate a licensing deal and take the product all the way to market. “Unlike many bioscience product teams, we are actively involved in development.”
Prepare for failure. Weir emphasized the need for resilience—“Of the 200 concepts, 155 investment memos, 48 project investments, 17 clinical trials, and 9 license agreements, only 1 of our pitches has become a commercial product.”
Prepare for success. “Patent costs can be substantial in this kind of endeavor,” Weir said, “easily over $100,000.”
The most important tip was perhaps the simplest—“You can’t do it alone.”
For more information, see “KU, New VC fund join to speed biotech, pharma commercialization” or visit IAMI’s website.