University of Colorado
Technology Transfer Office
Monthly Newsletter
December 2010 - Vol 7, Issue 5
TTO Logo & CU Logo
What's Inside
Tech Spotlight
Today at the TTO
CU Technology in the News
People
Upcoming Events
The Student Connection
CU Resources
Innovation in the News
External Resources
Parting Quote
Links

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Spotlight On:

CU-Boulder Technology of the Month:

 

Heterogeneous Catalyst for Improved Selectivity in Industrial Processes

 

UC Denver Technology of the Month:

 

MicroRNAs to Diagnose and Treat Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Recently at the TTO

New Combo Lung Cancer Therapy Improves Survival Over Single-Line Treatment

A combination therapy for treating cancer discovered at the University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC) showed improved survival rates in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results presented from a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial run by Syndax Pharmaceuticals. The phase 2 results show that the combination of entinostat (Syndax's SNDX-275) and erlotinib was more effective in treating NSCLC in patients with elevated levels of the molecular cancer marker E-cadherin than using erlotinib alone. UCCC researchers were the first to identify elevated E-cadherin as a targetable cancer marker, the first to develop the biomarker tumor testing process for elevated E-cadherin and the first to test the combined therapy. Syndax holds rights to the CU intellectual property related to this type of combination therapy which includes the use of E-cadherin to predict responsiveness to the therapy. (Read the full release.)

 

Arch Biopartners Exclusively Licenses CU Peptide Surface Technology

Arch Biopartners Inc. announced in early December that it has obtained an exclusive license for a patent pending in the area of peptides and solid surfaces owned by the University of Colorado and emanating from the Program in Structural Biology and Biophysics headed by Dr. Robert Hodges. (Read the full release.)

 

Viral Genetics Launches Subsidiary to Develop Metabolic Disruption Technology for Biofuels

CU licensee Viral Genetics, Inc., a California-based biotechnology company researching new treatments and methods of detection for diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS and others, has launched a subsidiary called VG Energy, Inc. which will explore biofuel and agricultural applications for one of the technologies in its licensed portfolio: Metabolic Disruption Technology (MDT).

 

Podcast: Tech Transfer Challenges and Choices

In October, W3W3 radio spoke with David Allen, CU's Vice President for Technology Transfer, about TTO's performance in fiscal year 2009-2010. "It's been brutal, very tough for early stage technology companies. But I see the sun shining through the darker clouds of the innovation economy recession," said Allen. Listen to the podcast, or view an archive of all TTO podcasts. A short presentation giving highlights of FY2009-10 is available in PDF format here.
CU Technology and Licensee Companies in the News

Baxter Nabs Archemix' Lead Synthetic Hemophilia Candidate and Assets for About $30M

Baxter International is paying aptamer therapeutics firm (and CU licensee) Archemix somewhere in the region of $30M to acquire all the latter's hemophilia-related assets plus an exclusive license to its lead hemophilia candidate, ARC19499. Under terms of the deal Archemix could receive another $285M in milestone payments. ARC19499 is currently undergoing Phase I evaluation in the U.K.

 

miRagen Secures Exclusive License to In Vivo Applications of t2cure's miR-92 IP

CU licensee miRagen Therapeutics negotiated an exclusive license to in vivo applications of t2cure's miRNA 92 (miR-92) IP, which the latter acquired from the University of Frankfurt. miR-92 is a regulator of neoangiogenesis in ischemic disease. miRagen will initially investigate the function of the miR-92a member of the miR-92 family as a target in ischemic disease and vascular disorders including atherosclerosis.

 

MedShape Solutions Secures Investment From IQT

CU licensee MedShape Solutions, Inc., the world's leading developer of innovative orthopedic medical devices from shape memory materials, recently announced a strategic investment and development agreement from In-Q-Tel (IQT), the strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

 

CU-Boulder Studies Show Promise for New Multiple Sclerosis Treatment

Successfully treating and reversing the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) may one day be possible using a drug originally developed to treat chronic pain, according to CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor Linda Watkins. Watkins and her colleagues in CU-Boulder's department of psychology and neuroscience discovered that a single injection of a compound called ATL313 - an anti-inflammatory drug being developed to treat chronic pain - stopped the progression of MS-caused paralysis in rats for weeks at a time. (Learn more about Watkins' work on chronic pain here and here.)

 

CU Shingles Vaccine and Reading Software Featured in AUTM Better World 2010

The 2010 Better World Report: The Positive Impact of Academic Innovations on Quality of Life (produced by the Association of University Technology Managers) celebrates real-world examples of technologies that directly impact the health, well-being and overall quality of life of people around the world. Two CU technologies made the cut:

 

  • Zostavax is the trade name for a virus vaccine for the prevention of varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection. VZV causes herpes zoster (shingles in adults, chickenpox as a child) and post-herpetic neuralgia. The Zostavax clinical program was built upon U.S. Patent 5,997,880, held jointly by the University of Colorado and Merck. Later pharmaco-economic analysis of the vaccine shows a health care financial benefit comparable to that offered by cervical screening for cancer or cholesterol screening (report, page 63).
  • My Virtual Tutor™ is interactive software developed by CU licensee Mentor InterActive, Inc. and based on the Foundations to Literacy reading program developed at CU-Boulder's Center for Computational Language & EducAtion Research (CLEAR). The first products in the My Virtual Tutor™: Reading line debuted in September 2009 at leading retailers throughout the US and Canada (report, page 95).
Read the full report (PDF) for these and other short vignettes of tech transfer success stories.
People

Podcast: Tech Transfer and Renewable Energy

W3W3 radio spoke with Trent Yang, Direct of Entrepreneurship and Business Development at CU-Boulder's Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), and MaryBeth Vellequette, TTO Licensing Associate, about RASEI and its joint proof-of-concept programs with TTO. Listen to the podcast, or view an archive of all TTO podcasts.

 

UCCS Faculty Honored for Economic Development Contributions

Terry Boult, El Pomar Chair of Innovation and Security, Michael Larson, El Pomar Chair of Engineering and Innovation and associate vice chancellor for research and innovation, and Jesse McClure, senior assistant research faculty, engineering, at UCCS were honored recently by the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp. and Peak Venture Group. Larson and McClure received the Chairperson Award for their work with Mind Studios, which provides low-cost design and engineering services to inventors and small businesses. Boult was named Inventor of the Year in recognition of his nine patented inventions and eight other patents pending. He helped create the Bachelor of Innovation program at UCCS, runs the school's Vision and Security Technology Lab and is co-founder of CU licensee Securics Inc.

 

CU Breast Cancer Researchers Nab $1.625M in New Grants to Study Stem-like Breast Cancer Cells

Two groups of Colorado breast cancer researchers have received a total $1.625M in grants to better understand the role of stem-like breast cancer cells in treatment resistance and recurrence. University of Colorado Cancer Center researcher Carol Sartorius received a $1.25M million grant from the NCI to investigate the role of stem-like cells in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer; she will collaborate with UCCC researcher Dan LaBarbera, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy, to figure out whether the cells can be targeted with novel drugs. Sartorius is also working with UCCC researcher Jennifer Richer, PhD, associate professor of pathology at the SOM, who is an expert in the role of microRNAs in breast cancer. They received a $375,000 Idea Grant from the Department of Defense to narrow down which of a group of microRNAs are involved in changing cells from being differentiated to being stem-like.

Do you know of a recent award, new position or transition of interest to the CU tech community? Please send information to [email protected]
Upcoming Events

Boulder/Denver New Technology Meetup Group

January 4, CU- Boulder
This ongoing event provides a forum for technologists and entrepreneurs to showcase the new (especially web-based) technology developing in Boulder/Denver tech community. Five companies have five minutes each to demonstrate their new technology, followed by five minutes for Q&A from the audience.

 

Colorado Green Tech Meetup

January 13, CU-Boulder

An ongoing event to support eco-entrepreneurs and others people involved and/or interested in green tech: energy generation, transportation, construction, and efficiency technologies. Businesses and researchers present new technologies, and attendees may announce business news, job openings, fundings, etc.


TTO Annual Awards Banquet

January 18, Tivoli Turnhalle, Denver

The 9th annual TTO awards dinner will be held on January 18, 2011 at the historic Tivoli Turnhalle in Denver. This event celebrates people and companies demonstrating best practices in technology transfer at CU. For information about attending, please contact Lynn Pae at [email protected] or 303-735-0550.

 

Workshop: How to Write Successful SBIR & STTR Applications

January 18-20, Bioscience Park Center, Aurora

Optimize your chances of tapping into over a billion dollars from NIH, NSF, DOD and DOE by attending this 2.5 day workshop hosted by the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) and the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA). View info online or request an application.

 

Entrepreneurs Unplugged: Pete Sheinbaum, Founder and CEO of Mandelbrot Project

January 24, CU-Boulder

Silicon Flatirons, ATLAS, and ITP present Pete Sheinbaum as our featured entrepreneur with moderator Brad Feld.

 

RETool: Session I - Renewable Electric Power

January 28, CU-Boulder

An intensive, four-day certificate program offered by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU-Boulder that provides an in-depth look at renewable energy technologies and policies. Participants may take all four courses to earn a RETool Renewable Energy Certificate, or may take courses individually.

 

Conference: The Digital Broadband Migration: The Dynamics of Disruptive Innovation

February 13, CU-Boulder

The Internet ecosystem - consisting of network providers, application developers, content creators and end users - continues to be a source of disruptive innovation. It provides enormous benefit to consumers everywhere while continuing to present significant challenges to existing business models and to policymakers and regulators. Silicon Flatiron's 2011 Digital Broadband Migration Conference, entitled "The Dynamics of Disruptive Innovation," will focus on the sources and nature of these disruptive advances, how they can be nurtured rather than stifled, and how any negative consequences for consumers can be minimized or averted.


To have your event featured here, please send an email to [email protected].

TTO's Learning Laboratory: The Student Connection

TTO Seeks MBA Student for Renewable Energy Internship

TTO and the CU-Boulder Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) need qualified interns with an interest in emerging renewable energy technologies, marketing, and intellectual property. This position is ideal for a student who wants to get into the fields of high-tech marketing or business development, particularly in the renewable energy industry. Job duties will include interviewing renewable energy investigators at the University of Colorado at Boulder and summarizing their research programs or technologies in the context of the overall industry and technology environment in one or more renewable energy sectors: wind, solar, biofuels, efficiency, storage. Candidates should be enrolled in an academic program at CU-Boulder; MBA students are preferred. A technical undergraduate degree is strongly preferred, and a focus on Entrepreneurship is preferred. To apply, please visit the CU-Boulder MBA Job Board (listing #156).
CU Resources

RETool Course - Commercializing Renewable Energy Projects

BADM 6930 - Commercializing Sustainable Energy Technologies addresses the execution and deployment of renewable energy projects, including planning, technical feasibility, permitting, policy incentives and constraints, community relations, financing methods, and financial analysis. Technology projects considered will include wind, solar PV, solar thermal, geothermal, transportation, and efficiency technologies, among others, and will include and examination of projects ranging in scale from household, community, commercial, to utility projects. A premise of the course is that sustainable energy technologies must be both technically feasible and economically viable. Course runs January 11 - April 28, 2011, earns 3 graduate credits from the CU Graduate School, and is offered in both on-campus and asynchronous distance formats.

 

CU's New Biotech Building Will Create Anchor for Sector

What if a new CU molecular biotechnology program (the Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, CIMB) becomes the biggest "anchor tenant" the bioscience industry has ever seen in the Boulder Valley? That's what many industry leaders are hoping,including several who joined a CEO Roundtable on bioscience in November.
Innovation in the News

2010 Ranking of 'New Economy States' Highlights Leaders and Laggers in Innovation

Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut are the top five states at the forefront of the nation's movement toward a global, innovation-based new economy, according to The 2010 State New Economy Index, released in November by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. The report makes clear that the nation - and, by extension, the states - cannot thrive without addressing fundamental economic competitiveness challenges. (Colorado ranked 9th overall, and was in the top ten for several indicators, including entrepreneurial activity (8th), patent activity (6th), industry investment in R&D (8th) and venture capital (4th).)

 

America's Greenest Governor Discusses Smart Growth, Clean Energy

Not many eco-leaders are tougher than the Governator, but even Arnold Schwarzenegger runs a close second to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. In a single term, Ritter has worked wonders at advancing a clean energy future for Colorado, establishing a precedent for other states to move past dirty coal and earning Greenopia's title as America's greenest governor. In this Q&A, Ritter reports on energy security, leadership, and what's next.

 

Clean Energy May Backslide in Pennsylvania but Remains Intact in Colorado

In Colorado, a broad coalition keeps clean energy on track. But Republican gains in Pennsylvania threaten to derail legislation.

 

Colorado Cleantech Industry Association 2011 Priorities

CCIA's 2011 operating plan includes numerous action items that will serve to grow the Association and support the development of the cleantech industry. The following seven objectives are priorities and, if accomplished, will serve to meet the mission of the CCIA: establish a fund of funds to attract and grow venture capital in Colorado; secure funding for the Clean Technology Discovery Evaluation Grant Program; develop a framework and begin fund-raising for a Cleantech Fellows Program; host a large technology transfer event; host the annual awards celebration; host at least one event that introduces out of state investors to Colorado cleantech companies/technologies; meet revenue goal for membership and sponsorships.

 

Celebrating 30 Years of Progress Due to the Bayh-Dole Act

On December 12th, the biotechnology industry celebrated the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act, the legislation largely responsible for the growth of the biotech sector. The Bayh-Dole Act gives ownership rights to universities receiving federal funding and facilitates the transfer of those technologies from the public to the private sector. This enables the biotechnology industry to bring federally funded research to the market place.

 

Roundup: University, Community, State, National and International Initiatives

 

Facing a Budget Crisis, UK Will Not Cut S&T Spending
The
European Commission predicts the UK will face a 12% budget deficit in 2011. In October, Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the budget plan, which will cut almost all government departments by an average of 19% over four years. However, core science spending will remain frozen at �4.6B (approximately $7.3B) over the next four years according to a recent article in C&I magazine. According to the Chronicles of Higher Learning, the top 20 research-intensive universities will see a 2.5% increase in research funding. The country also will invest �220M ($350.7M) in the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation.

 

Michigan Lawmakers Pass Angel Investment Tax Credit Legislation

Michigan lawmakers recently passed a measure aimed at increasing access to capital for small businesses by allowing taxpayers to collect an income tax credit worth 25% of a qualified investment in emerging industries such as advanced manufacturing and life sciences.

 

U of Minnesota to Take Off-the-Top Cut of Patent Revenues

The University of Minnesota University Board of Regents on recently approved a 15% service fee for technologies licensed through the Office of Technology Commercialization, which is currently funded exclusively by revenues from royalties from spinoff companies. The off-the-top charge, made before revenues are shared among the university and inventors, will be used to pay for attorney and patent fees and any other miscellaneous expenses.

External Resources

Colleges Are Urged to Play a Greater Role in Regional Development Efforts

Colleges must play a greater, and more deliberate, role in helping regions innovate and thrive in an increasingly competitive and globalized economy, speakers urged in December at a conference on higher education and economic development. Economic development is "no longer about attracting businesses," said Sam M. Cordes, co-director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development. "It's about attracting people, about attracting talent."

 

The Myth of the "Patent Cliff"

What, exactly, is the "patent cliff?" It is most often described as an industry-wide expiration of the patents of a number of blockbuster drugs, resulting in their replacement with generics and the emergence of a large hole in the collective financial pocket of the industry.

 

U.S. Clean Energy Leadership Index

Clean Edge's first annual U.S. Clean Energy Leadership Index (PDF) provides the industry's most comprehensive and objective analysis and ranking of how all 50 states compare across the spectrum of clean-energy technology, policy, and capital. According to Clean Edge's assessment and ranking of more than 80 different state-level indicators, the top three states in the nation are California, Oregon, and Massachusetts. Washington, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, Minnesota, and New Jersey round out the top 10.

 

Colorado Office of Economic Development Transition Report

Colorado Governor-elect John Hickenlooper convened a group of more than 500 citizens from all over Colorado, organized into committees to assess the challenges and opportunities facing the state in each of its main departments of government and to identify great candidates to lead those departments. The final report (PDF) for the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) identified several challenges and opportunities for immediate action, including small business support, attraction/retention of jobs, and support of Colorado's new energy economy.

 

Boulder Third-Techiest City in U.S.

According to Cybercities 2010: The Definitive Analysis of the High-Tech Industry in the Nation's Top 60 Cities, a report released in December by the Washington, D. C.-based TechAmerica Foundation, more than 21% of Boulder's jobs are in the tech industry. Only San Jose, Calif. (Silicon Valley) and Huntsville, Ala. have labor forces in which tech jobs make up a greater percentage of the employment base.

Parting Quote

 

"Dissent is the native activity of the scientist, and it has got him into a good deal of trouble in the last years. But if that is cut off, what is left will not be a scientist. And I doubt whether it will be a man."

 

Biologist, mathematician and author Jacob Bronowski


University of Colorado's Office of Technology Transfer Mission Statement

The mission of the CU Technology Transfer Office is to aggressively pursue, protect, package, and license to business the intellectual property generated from the research enterprise, and to serve faculty, staff, and students seeking to create such intellectual property.

(303) 735-3711
[email protected]
http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer