New Strategies in Academic-Industry Collaborations

Abstract

Introduction

Major pharmaceutical companies are showing increased interest in directly sponsoring academic research to access innovation and fill dwindling pipelines. Recent agreements involve higher levels of collaboration and funding, are broader in scope, and focus on more-basic research than previously. This increased collaboration among scientists performing basic research, clinical researchers, and drug developers will accelerate the shift to translational medicine and has the potential to yield great benefits to patients and society.

• Pharmaceutical companies have recently formed numerous collaborations with large research institutions. What factors are driving this interest? What are the key features of recent collaborative agreements? How does each organization benefit from these arrangements?
• The environment of academic technology transfer to industry is changing. What impact has the Bayh-Dole Act had on technology transfer? How do academic institutions manage academicindustry relationships? Which institutions are leading in innovation and commercialization of technology?
• Drug developers are experimenting with different approaches to academic-industry relations. Which key collaborations illustrate these new approaches? What strategic interests of the pharmaceutical industry do these agreements serve? How will universities and companies measure success?
• Relationships between academia and industry present special challenges. How do the missions and goals of academia and industry differ? What conflicts can arise with respect to industry funding of academic researchers? How can institutions and companies manage these differences?

Scope

• Factors in academic-industry collaborations: historical relationships, dwindling pharmaceutical pipelines, diminishing federal funding for academia.
• Technology transfer: impact of Bayh-Dole, tech transfer offices, inventions and innovation, challenges in academic-industry relationships.
• New approaches in academic-industry relationships: close-collaboration, broad-scope, early-stage research.
• Translational medicine: theme of collaborations, goals, motivations.
• Drug discovery centers: academic centers for dug discovery, industry discovery centers, pharmaceutical incubators.
• Notable collaborators: AstraZeneca, Centocor, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer; Columbia University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Immune Disease Institute, MIT, University of California, San Francisco, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University, Washington University.

Mentioned in This Report

• Abbott Laboratories
• Astellas Pharma
• AstraZeneca
• Biogen Idec
• Boston College
• Boston University
• Brandeis University
• Brigham and Women' s Hospital
• Bristol-Myers Squibb
• California Institute of Technology
• Cellartis
• Center for Applied Cancer Science
• Centocor
• Columbia University Medical Center
• Daiichi Sankyo
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Eli Lilly
• Eisai
• GE Healthcare
• Genentech
• Genzyme
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
• Harvard Medical School
• Harvard Stem Cell Institute
• Icagen
• Immune Disease Institute
• Janssen Pharmaceutica
• Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Johnson & Johnson
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Medical Research Council
• Merck
• Merck KGaA
• Northeastern University
• Novartis
• Novo Nordisk
• Osiris Therapeutics
• Pfizer
• Roche
• SanofiPasteur
• Schering-Plough
• Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences
• Stanford University
• Statens Serum Institute
• Takeda
• Tufts University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of Cambridge
• University of London
• University of Massachusetts Medical School
• University of Michigan
• University of Texas
• Vanderbilt University
• Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
• Washington University
• Wyeth