The venture produces drug molecules that are able to bind more tightly to targeted sites in the body. This means medicines can be administered at lower dosages and frequencies. And minimized side-effects. First-round institutional funding is targeted in eight months and Lynk hopes to be listed in 2002. So far, so good.
Most scientists have a lot more trouble getting their projects off the ground.
In the United States, university researchers typically spin out their own innovations, with venture capital funds. Japan lacks a supportive system where academics can do the same, says ING Baring's Yoda. Researchers are often unfamiliar with intellectual property issues and chafe at patenting hurdles. Some reject the idea of putting a price on ideas altogether. At the technology transfer office of Academia Sinica, Taiwan's leading research institution, Liang Chi-ming recalls, for instance, a scientist who offered to license his innovation for one token dollar.