Artificial noses, fiber optic arrays, and silk-based artificial ACL tissues may not appear to have much in common.
But all three were developed by Tufts professors at Tufts labs, and went through the patent process.
As Tufts develops a higher profile in cutting-edge research, it is also seeing the scientific and financial benefits from new innovation.
When faculty members researching at any of Tufts' schools make a unique discovery or devise a distinctive invention, it is reported to Tufts' Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration (OTL&IC).
"The office is responsible for managing all affects of intellectual property [that occurs from research," said Nina Green, Director of the OTL&IC.
Faculty members are required to disclose any discoveries they make to the OTL&IC. These findings are then evaluated for "novelty, potential commercial use, and non-obviousness," Green said. If they pass that test, the office files for a patent.
In 2005, 45 new inventions were reported to the OTL&IC. Out of those, 23 new U.S. patent applications were filed. According to Green, it is typical for about half of the invention disclosures that come in to make it to the patent stage.
The Medical School had the most discoveries brought to the office's attention, with 20 disclosures. The medical school always has the most, Green said. "[They are] the most prolific."
There were, however, disclosures from every school, except for the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Beyond filing for patents, the office also helps faculty members look for commercial partners, Green said.
This was the case for Chemistry Professor David Walt. Walt "developed a way of creating very high density arrays that can perform hundreds of thousands of tests on a small sample," he said.
Because it makes this easy and inexpensive, it is an excellent tool for "carrying out studies looking at genetic variation between people," Walt said. This information can be used to determine the differences in people's susceptibly to a specific disease or treatment by a particular drug.
After Walt reported his discovery to the OTL&IC, they identified and put him in touch with "some venture capitalists that wanted to start a business," he said. The office also negotiated a business contract.
According to Walt, faculty members are, and must be, involved in the entire process. "Any time there's an invention out of [a] faculty member's lab, that person has to be pretty heavily involved in the process of licensing."
Faculty members must help transfer the information of how a specific product works.
Walt and his fellow researchers were responsible for training company employees on their discovery.
Tufts now has nine start-up companies based on technologies developed at the university, according to the OTL&IC Web site.
One, CogniScent, Inc. "has been working on what they call an artificial nose," Green said.
Using chemicals, the nose can detect explosives, or, in a more domestic application, can detect mold in houses.
According to Green, this invention should begin to generate revenue in the next 18 months. When it does, Tufts will be seeing some of the benefits due to royalties.
"Royalties are derived from the sale of licensed products that result from our patent," Green said. "This past year, our income was just under $1 million."
The money is split up between the individual that made the discovery, the department they work in, the school and the university.
According to Green, 40 percent goes to the specific faculty member, and then 20 percent for each of the other areas.
"We're in the stage where revenue is going to grow," Green said. She estimated that next year the revenue would be closer to $2 million. "We should see some exponential growth."
Part of the reason for this is that the OTL&IC is still relatively young: It was established in 1999 here at Tufts. Many other Boston schools, such as Harvard University, Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, established similar offices in the '80s.
Especially in the development of new drugs, "the time horizon is the best part of a decade" before you can make money off of them, Green said.
Drugs must pass through a pre-clinical phase and then clinical phases one, two and three administered by the Food and Drug Administration before they can actually be used on the market.
"Each phase can take more than a year," Green said. Sometimes they can take up to two or three years.
Currently, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc, after almost 10 years of development, has a "novel antibiotic in clinical phase two," Green said.
In the next three to five years, she said that this antibiotic, and other such products, will make it through the tests and be sold on the marketplace, which will drastically increase the office's revenue.
