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News and Events > Newsletters > Monthly Newsletter: January 2005
University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office
Monthly Newsletter
Volume 1 ~ Issue 5 ~ January 2005
Top Stories
CU Licenses New Cancer Compound to Allos Theraputics, Inc.Allos Therapeutics, Inc. recently announced that it has acquired an exclusive worldwide license from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the University of Salford and Cancer Research Technology to develop and commercialize a new chemotherapeutic agent known as RH1. The compound is currently being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial sponsored by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the largest volunteer-supported cancer research organization in the world. (more)
Abbott Labs Licenses Homocysteine Assay Based on Discoveries by Two University of Colorado Inventors, Drs. Robert Allen and Sally Stabler and the Late Dr. John Lindenbaum from Columbia UniversityCompetitive Technologies, Inc. (CTT) and Abbott announced in December that a homocysteine patent license has been granted to Abbott under CTT's U.S. Patent Number 4,940,658 and its foreign counterparts relating to homocysteine medical tests. The 1986 patent filing, managed by CTT for the university, is derived from discoveries made by Drs. Robert Allen and Sally Stabler from the University of Colorado and the late Dr. John Lindenbaum from Columbia University. (more)
CU Exits from Ownership Position in PowerSicel, Inc.
Advanced Power Technology, Inc., a leading supplier of high performance power semiconductors used in the conditioning and control of electrical power for both switching and RF applications, announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire PowerSicel, Inc. a Colorado-based company focused on RF power utilizing Silicon Carbide. (more)
Today at the TTO
TTO Hiring for Director, New Business Development
The Director is responsible for facilitating the creation of new businesses from investigator-generated intellectual property by working directly with faculty inventors to build businesses, while serving as liaison to internal and external resources (academic and business communities) to ensure C.U. start-ups receive the maximum amount of help needed to succeed. (more)
TTO Informs Inventors of Possible Tax Consequences With Regard to Invention Income Distributions
An IRS Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM) may have a significant impact on income tax reporting for royalty payments received by faculty inventors. Previously most people have treated royalty payments as supplemental income and been taxed at their ordinary income rates which are generally higher than capital gains tax rates. This TAM indicates that faculty generated royalty income may be eligible for capital gains treatment. (more)
TTO Announces Second Round of Proof-Of-Concept (POC) Funding
The University of Colorado's Technology Transfer Office (TTO) announces the second round of its new funding program to move ideas from the lab to the marketplace. The Proof-of-Concept program (POC) will make "seed" investments ranging from $50,000 - $100,000 in promising technologies that could become the basis for a start-up company. A CU faculty member, or an entrepreneur working with a CU faculty member, must submit proposals by March 25, 2005. Applications will be accepted beginning February 11th. For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer/ .
Inter-Institutional Agreements Foster Commercialization Resulting from Collaborative Research
When researchers from separate research institutions collaborate and invent a technology, that invention will be jointly owned by two or more institutions, and it is necessary for those institutions to agree how best to protect and commercial the invention. The Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA), which is executed by the institution-owners, sets forth how a jointly owned invention will be protected and commercialized. At this point in the fiscal year, the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office (CU TTO) has executed four such inter-institutional agreements with four separate institutions. (more)
CU Theraputics Advance Through FDA Approvals
MacugenŽ, EyeTech Pharmaceutical's ophthalmologic drug derived from CU-Boulder research, completed an FDA fast-track process and won market approval in December. Merck announced in December plans to apply in early 2005 for a Biologics License on its varicella zoster (shingles) vaccine patented by CU and based on research by HSC's Dr. Myron Levin. Other CU discoveries continue to advance through the clinical trials process. (more)
Paul Jerde Added to TTO Advisory Board
The newest member of the TTO Advisory Board is Paul Jerde. Paul recently assumed the role of Executive Director for the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business, Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship.
TTO FY04-05 Metrics - First Half
As CU concludes the first half of its Fiscal Year, TTO statistics demonstrate strong productivity:
FY 2004-05 1st Half Metrics
|
Count |
Percent of Goal |
| Disclosures Received |
91 |
54% |
| Patents Filed |
64 |
56% |
| Revenue Bearing Agreements |
23 |
49% |
CU Technology in the News
Potential New Cancer Drug Licensed to Local Company
The University of Colorado's star cancer researcher, Dr. Paul Bunn, in passing mentioned a new drug with a nondescript name to a local biotech. Now, 2 1/2 long years later, Allos Therapeutics has licensed the promising RH-1. If it beats the odds and becomes a real drug, it could provide a windfall of revenue for CU and the compound's inventor. (more)
CU Researcher Robert Batey's Work Highlighted in Nature
Nature's November 18th issue published research of Robert Batey, a Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty member at CU Boulder. (more)
Denver Post: CU's Tiny Engines Driving Medicine
Endoscopy generally isn't much fun. It's easier in the rare cases when a patient can swallow a tiny camera, instead of having a long cord threaded down the throat or through the intestines. But such "capsule endoscopy" has limited value to many doctors: The capsules travel one way, twist to face the wrong direction and can't be steered to trouble spots, experts said. So University of Colorado engineer Kamran Mohseni has added tiny engines to the minicameras. His goal is to let doctors guide tiny machines to a damaged area in a person's intestines, where they could deliver medicine, take pictures or collect a biopsy. (more)
CU Team Maps Substance on Chromosome That Repels Disease
Tom Cech, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist at the University of Colorado, and his colleagues have detailed the precise structure of POT1, a protein involved in maintaining human chromosomes. The new images indicate that when POT1 attaches to the ends of chromosomes, it keeps an enzyme called telomerase away from the tips. (more)
CU Shows Both Sizzle and Steak with Proof of Concept Awards
It may well be the toughest gap to bridge. You have a promising technology but you need money - known in the investment community as seed funding - to test out whether it can fly as a business. For University of Colorado faculty, or entrepreneurs working with CU faculty, there's a new program that might make that funding search a little easier. (more)
CU Executes Exclusive License With XenoPur Systems, Inc.
XenoPur Systems, Inc. is a start-up company that utilizes a CU-Boulder technology to remove heavy metals from industrial process wastewater. The company's core technology was developed by Associate Professor Mark Hernandez of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, and XenoPur has exclusively licensed Dr. Hernandez's invention from CU. XenoPur received the first CU-Boulder investment made by the technology transfer Proof of Concept Fund (www.cusys.edu/techtransfer/news/newsletters/2005/news_poc.html), and intends to use the funds to sponsor research on campus.
Spotlight On:
| CU Boulder's Technology of the Month |
CU Boulder's Technology of the Month |
CU's Company of the Month |
| CU1340B - Structure of a Natural Guanine-Responsive Riboswitch Complexed With the Metabolite Hypoxanthine |
2002.117B - Propulsion System for a Diagnostic Imaging Capsule |
Eyetech Pharmaceutical, Inc. |
| Riboswitches are genetic regulatory elements found in the 5-prime untranslated region of messenger RNA that activate or deactivate gene expression by responding to changing concentrations of their target ligand. To date, eleven classes of riboswitches have been identified, and these genetic elements control the expression of as much as 2% of the genes in certain bacteria. The search for anti-riboswitch drugs represents a new mode of anti-bacterial action that would of considerable interest for many reasons, not the least being a new strategy for targeting drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Dr. Rob Batey and his group recently published a manuscript in Nature (432, 411-415, Nov. 18, 2004) reporting the purification and high-resolution crystallization of the purine-binding domain of the guanine riboswitch from the xpt-pbuX operon of B. subtilis bound to hypoxanthine, a biologically relevant ligand of the riboswitch. The crystal structure, which had previously proven difficult to obtain, was generated from RNA purified using a patented and novel native affinity-tag purification method developed by Drs.Rob Batey and Jeff Kieft (CU1144B). The crystal structure permits structure-based design and testing of novel metabolite analogs that will bind to riboswitches and trigger their allosteric action. Many such analogs have already been tested and others are currently being analyzed. |
This is a novel MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System) device to steer a disposable, swallowable, and wireless capsule through the digestive system while capturing video images. (Wireless capsule itself has already been invented elsewhere). This will be designed for a close up viewing of the small intestine, tissue biopsies, and local on site drug delivery. The new device allows the physician to make diagnosis and direct appropriate treatment for a variety of diseases that were previously difficult to detect. When a comfortable level of controllability and orientation of the capsule is achieved, we will add MEMS devices for obtaining tissue biopsies from the intestines to assist further with diagnosis using a wireless system. It will also be designed for local on site drug delivery. Further refinement of the technology may allow physicians to eventually treat disorders of the GI tract non-invasively. The capsule offers a painless, comfortable, cost effective, and non-invasive gastrointestinal exam, tissue biopsy and local on site drug delivery capabilities. |
EyeTech Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: EYET), a Massachusetts-based company founded on CU science, in December won FDA marketing approval for its first therapeutic product, MacugenŽ. MacugenŽ (pegaptanib sodium injection) treats neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that can progress to severe vision loss. The drug, an anti-VEGF aptamer, was identified through a CU-patented process invented in Boulder's Molecular, Chemical and Developmental Biology labs in the 1980's by Professor Larry Gold and colleagues. The SELEX process generates a vast array of short strands of RNA from which aptamers can be designed and selected for enhanced binding to molecular sites, potentially enabling more specific therapeutic effects. (more) |
Search our database for licenseable CU Technologies
Technology Transfer Bulletin of the Month
Confidentiality Agreements
The terms 'confidential information' and 'confidential know-how' (expertise/trade secrets) refer to all information not in the public domain, including interpretations of information that is in the public domain.
The term 'public domain,' describes the status of an invention, commercial symbol, or any other creative work that is not protected by a form of intellectual property. If a work is in the 'public domain' that means that another can freely copy a work without permission or attribution to the original creator(s) or inventor(s). |
Upcoming Events
TTO Legal Seminar: Obtaining Technology and Rights from University Technology Transfer Offices -- Critical Issues for both Universities and Companies
January 20, 2005 - 7:30am - The CU Technology Transfer Office, the law offices of Holme, Roberts & Owen, and LeftHand Networks present the TTO Legal Seminar: "Obtaining Technology and Rights from University Technology Transfer Offices -- Critical Issues for both Universities and Companies" with David Seely of Holme, Roberts & Owen. (more)
LES Event: Technology Transfer at the University of Colorado: A Trajectory Poised for Substantial Impact
January 26, 2005 - Technology Transfer at CU has undergone major change and development; the results of that transformation are evident in recent and expected performance. Three years of successively exceeding stretch targets have resulted in a revitalized Technology Transfer Office that has redefined relationships with CU investigators, Colorado's technology community and licensee companies. David N. Allen, CU's Associate VP for Technology Transfer, will discuss the transformation of tech transfer at CU- how it occurred, what it means for various stakeholders and continuing challenges. There will be ample opportunities for Q&A. (more)
2005 AUTM Annual Meeting
February 2-5, 2005 - During the 2005 AUTM Annual Meeting, David Allen, CU's Associate VP for Technology Transfer, will give a talk entitled "Gap Funding and Other Ways to Mature Your Technologies." The talk will be part of the afternoon educational tracks on Thursday, February 3rd. (more)
Innovation in the News
CU, NIST to Expand Relationship
The University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are expanding a decades-old relationship whose fruits include a Nobel Prize. Officials from CU and NIST are putting the finishing touches on a draft memorandum of understanding that could further open doors to both short- and long-term cooperative research between scientists at the respective institutions.
Twinkle Toes: How Geckos' Sticky Feet Stay Clean
So strong is the stickiness of some geckos' feet that the lizards can hang from a ceiling by a single toe. Despite that clinginess, the forest of adhesive fibers on the underside of each toe stays nearly dirt free without grooming or washing.
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