CALS’ Record Intellectual Property Year—the Science behind the Patents

In 2015 the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences tripled the number of executed license and option agreements and launched three start-up companies—equaling the total number of CALS start-ups created over the previous five years. It was also a record year for intellectual property income in CALS; while a one-time payment for an animal health technology patented in the 1990s accounted for a large part of this result, the rest came from an invigorated focus on commercialization as a pathway to bring scientific discoveries from the lab to the marketplace.

The CALS Office of Research has been working with Tech Launch Arizona (TLA) to create greater alignment between CALS strategic goals and the Tech Launch Arizona mission of creating social and economic impact through commercializing UA inventions stemming from University research.

“TLA is committed to working with CALS,” says TLA Vice President David Allen, Ph.D., “to develop a strong pipeline of broad-based, impactful agricultural technologies to drive commercialization activities that will benefit the College, UA and the state of Arizona through the creation of new products, the formation of new companies and stimulating investment, all of which contribute to enhanced economic impact.”

Inventors at CALS have developed a vast number of technologies. Some of those licensed in 2015 include:

• A water-soluble prodrug for a heat shock-inducing compound that has been developed and leveraged in an integrated drug discovery platform targeting neurodegenerative diseases.
• Plant-symbiotic microbes that exploit the potential of symbiotic fungi and bacteria to enhance crop productivity and health and improve sustainability in agriculture.
• A method for the chemical synthesis of pure, chemically-tailorable, glycolipid-based surfactants, being commercialized via a start-up specialty chemical company focused on the novel production of green surfactants for numerous product application platforms.
• A rapid and specific diagnostic test for an emerging parasite that represents a threat to the global tropical shrimp industry.
• A novel nutritional supplement that improves health and production of livestock under environmental stress, particularly in lactating dairy cattle.

“These results show that TLA activities and intellectual property can result in significant income to—and commercial impact for—the UA and CALS,” said Parker Antin, Ph.D., CALS associate dean for research.

FY15 Highlights

• Invention disclosures: Most new invention disclosures in 5 years and approximately a 20% increase over the 5-year average.
• Licenses and Options: Tripled the number of agreements compared to the previous year.
• Intellectual property income: CALS received $572,249 in IP income in FY15, far and away greater than historically received. Additionally, that same CALS IP also contributed $2,559,405 in income to the University of Arizona.
• Patents: CALS filed 18 new patents and was awarded 3 issued patents.

“We have just scratched the surface, with the support of the CALS Office of Research and the engagement of the CALS faculty and research community,” said Tod McCauley, senior licensing manager for CALS at Tech Launch Arizona. “I look forward to seeing these commercial activities continue to grow and impact CALS and UA.”

About the image above: Withaferin A, a prodrug being used to develop treatments for neurodegenerative disease, is derived from the Winter Cherry, shown here. Startup company Yumanity Therapeutics, Inc., is commercializing the prodrug. Image credit: Leslie Gunantilaka.