*includes end-user software and materials licenses along with conventional technology licenses
Vanderbilt Ranks 35th on the NAI's Top 100 List for U.S. Patents
The Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2020 report was released last week by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO). The report uses data obtained from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and highlights the vital role patents play in university research and innovation. In the report, Vanderbilt University ranked 35th. Moving up one spot from last year.
Published annually since 2013, the report ranks the top 100 universities named as first assignee on utility patents granted by the USPTO in the 2020 calendar year.
The new MTAShare 2.0 officially launched on April 5th as we migrate all Vanderbilt University and Medical Center MTA processing to MTAShare 2.0, and at that time we are discontinuing the use of the current version built on REDCap. The REDCap version of MTAShare has served us admirably for more than 6 years and has allowed us to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for MTA processing services.
MTAShare 2.0 is for broad use by universities and non-profit research organizations, and adoption will further improve automation and efficiency in processing MTAs. The system will have a different look and feel than the current REDCap version, but we have found the transition to be straightforward, and the system provides the researchers with substantially more transparency as to the status of their MTA requests. CTTC offers hands-on training to anybody in need, to ensure that the transition seamless for our faculty and staff.
Researchers will access MTAShare the exact same way as always – from the main page of our website, or at the following link:
Simpleview, a travel and tourism industry's global leader in destination marketing tools and services announced its partnership with Stroll, a patented, location-based marketing platform, specifically designed for destination marketing organizations (DMOs). Strollwas started in 2019 by John Mark (J.M.) Eberhardt and Dr. Charleson Bell. Bell serves as CIO of Stroll, holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, has been published extensively, and is named in four patents – including those owned by Stroll.
SecureLink, a leader in third-party remote access and security, has acquired Maize Analytics, a leading provider of data governance solutions, to tackle organizations’ largest security risks and bring compliance innovation to the market. Maize Analytics was started by Daniel Fabbri, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Department of Computer Science. Fabbri received a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps award to commercialize this auditing technology at Maize Analytics.
Vanderbilt startup, PathEx, received one of the Venture Houston 2021 pitch competition prizes from ChampionX. PathEx is developing a blood cleansing device designed to selectively remove pathogens, including multi-drug resistant bacteria, and endotoxins from circulating blood. Congratulations to Sinead E. Miller, Ph.D., and the PathEx team!
Nine Vanderbilt technologies earn patent protection in June
11,047,860
Protein Quantitation in Multicellular Tissue Specimens
11,046,683
Activator of TREK (Twik Related K+ Channels) Channels
Nanofiber electrodes, fabricating methods and applications of same
Technology Spotlight:
Point of Care Rheological Assay for Sickle Cell Disease
Vanderbilt researchers have created a novel technology for diagnosing and monitoring disease states using the rheological properties of a blood sample with a lateral flow membrane.
Unique Features:
Low-cost lateral flow diagnostic
Quick evaluation of results without the need for specialized equipment
Results easy to understand
Rapid diagnosis and quantification of Hemoglobin S
Reckitt is looking to identify drug delivery systems allowing for the either prolonged sustained release of common active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), or sustained release when presented in a liquid dosage form. This campaign is focused on over the counter (OTC) medications focused on the alleviation of pain, cough, cold and flu, sore throat and gastrointestinal (GI) relief utilizing oral liquid or easy to swallow oral solid dosage forms.
Approaches of Interest:
Application of technology or development of drug delivery systems to enable prolonged sustained release of APIs relevant to pain, cough, cold & flu, sore throat and GI relief categories
Application of technology or development of drug delivery systems to enable sustained release of APIs relevant to pain, cough, cold & flu, sore throat and GI relief categories, presented to the patient in oral liquid or easy to swallow oral solid dosage forms
Approaches prolonging the drug’s GI transit time are of interest
If you are interested in submitting, please reach out to CTTC@vanderbilt.edu
for more information.
Weekly Interactions
Below is a sampling of the interactions that have taken place in our office and with our staff over the last month.
ATTENDED
Attended the 2nd Quarter meeting of the Ancora Joint Operating Committee
Attended the Chancellor’s webinar on "Accelerating our Progress Toward a Sustainable Future"
Attended the kickoff meeting for the Oracle Contracts Module
Attended a virtual presentation on new microformulator technology entitled “Formulating a New Approach to Pharmacokinetics and Cell State Control” by John Wikswo from the Department of Physics and Astronomy
Submitted and facilitated review by Ancora of VU SOM Basic Sciences faculty’s therapeutic project proposal
Attended a webinar on patenting AI-based inventions hosted by Deerfield Management
Attended a symposium conducted by Deerfield Management – “Sources of Capital: Early-Stage Companies Springboard to IPO and Recent Market Trends”
Attended Private Director Association Webinar "Effective Private Equity Boards - The Evolution of Human Capital Strategy and the Independent Director"
Attended meetings commending the ASPIRE to Innovate Fellow program
Attended Webinar "Cybersecurity & Law: Protecting Both Businesses and Board Members"
Attended Nashville Healthcare Council in-person networking session
Attended Houston Innovation Ecosystem Series Part 1: Venture Capital
Attended Council CIO Dinner with Brian Moyer (President and CEO of Nashville Technology Council)
Attended Nashville Business Journal presentation: "Growth of Nashville: The Oracle Impact"
EXECUTED
Executed an NDA with a UK-based entrepreneur interested in commercializing a wearable technology developed by Christina Marasco in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Executed commercial end-user license agreements with a global pharmaceutical company and a food and biosciences company, for the INCA software developed by Jamey Young in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Executed end user license agreements with three educational institutions for the Latin American Public Opinion (LAPOP) data sets developed by Elizabeth Zechmeister and colleagues in the Department of Political Science
Executed a license through our collaborators at the University of Washington for methods of preventing and treating arrhythmias caused by cardiac grafts co-developed by Bjorn Knollmann from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology
Entered into an Option Agreement with Chem Biomed LLC, a Santa Barbara, CA startup for evaluating the commercial potential of a technology for the biophotonic assessment of Otitis Media. The technology arose from Vanderbilt’s Biophotonics Center
Finalized an interinstitutional agreement to enable the commercialization of a small molecule therapeutic program invented by Alex Waterson and others in the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology
MARKETED
Held a call with our start-up licensee, PATH EX, and a potential investor to answer questions about the license agreement and Vanderbilt’s relationship with the company
Prepared a report on Vanderbilt research strengths aligning with a large federal grant opportunity
Held calls with VUMC and VU faculty to develop therapeutic project proposal concepts
Held a call with the VA to discuss a jointly owned technology, a potential licensee for the technology, and the proposed process of distributing royalties
Held calls with a pharmaceutical company interested in working with Ivelin Georgiev from the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center and his LIBRAseq antibody discovery platform
Wrote and submitted the Vanderbilt entry to the annual R&D100 awards competition. Our 2021 entry was the HeroWear Apex exosuit, developed by Karl Zelik and his lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Held a call with a medical device entrepreneur to discuss the commercialization potential of a peripheral nerve catheter tool developed by Michael Singleton in the VUMC Department of Anesthesiology
CTTC is actively soliciting technologies from the Vanderbilt community for eventual monetization of “content-based” properties such as surveys, workflow platforms, tutorials, and similar
Held a call with Julie Ozier, Dena Johnson, and colleagues of the Human Research Protections Program to discuss commercialization of the Discover-e Software platform
Held a call with a lymphedema management device company to explore commercialization of Lymphedema Symptom Intensity and Distress Surveys developed by Sheila Ridner from the School of Nursing
Held an introductory call with a pharmaceutical company interested in partnering with Stephen Fesik from the Department of Biochemistry on the co-development of anticancer compounds for 5 cancer targets
Held a call with an early-stage venture group to discuss best practices in establishing a technology accelerator fund
The pipeline highlights a listing of fully human antibodies by target disease, availability by field, and stage of development. Links to scientific publications are also included.
The catalogue highlights medical device technologies currently in the pipeline for commercialization at Vanderbilt University. This Pipeline has more than 100 technologies in 12 categories from 40 research groups.
