FEMA Volunteers LION CARE by Marsha Elliott Researchers like to chat. They publish papers, present findings at conferences and send e-mail to inform their colleagues about new discoveries or progress about current research. Information sharing is the rock-solid foundation of scientific discovery. Segue to the business of turning discovery the yield of research into a marketable product and watch the focus shift. Competition spurs the business of product development whether diagnostic or therapeutic, drug or device.
Business plays to win.
When the stakes are high, players hold cards close to their vests. Historically, the path from research to product ran along the technology transfer roadway. An academic institution would provide intellectual property, the yield, to an industry that could develop it. When traffic started moving on the information superhighway, along with e-business and the venture capital companies that support it, a lane opened for technology development. In addition to selling intellectual property to a single industrial partner such as a pharmaceutical company or manufacturer of medical devices the technology transfer model academic institutions sought eager entrepreneurs willing to turn ideas into products.