News and Events > Newsletters > Monthly Newsletter: March 2006

Today at the TTO

The first product from eCortex will be a machine vision software component that is capable of classifying and recognizing objects, people, and context directly from digital images. This software is built using a biologically realistic model of the human visual system that is based on decades of neuroscience research. The eCortex product is expected to be significantly more flexible and accurate than other methods available and will open up new applications for machine vision system providers. You can find more information on the eCortex website at http://www.e-cortex.com.

Two Bills Supportive of University Biotechnology Research and Development in Colorado move to House Appropriations Committee
Colorado's strategy is to "grow our own" bioscience industry. In addition to creating a generally good business environment for entrepreneurs, there are a several specific dynamics that need to be addressed to promote the success of the industry.

Proof-of-Concept Programs Reminder
Spring rounds of CU TTO's Proof of Concept Investment (POCi) and Proof of Concept Grant (POCg) programs are still underway. Applications will be accepted through March 24 (POCi) and through April 14 (POCg).

CU Technology and Licensee Companies in the News

ARCA Discovery, Inc. Raises $15 Million in Series A Financing
ARCA Discovery, Inc., a company developing genetically-targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today announced the completion of a $15 million venture capital financing. The financing was led by Atlas Venture. Boulder Ventures, which provided the original seed financing for ARCA, and Pequot Capital Management also participated in the financing.

Myogen deal worth up to $100 million
Westminster-based Myogen Inc. said Monday it will receive as much as $100 million from GlaxoSmithKline, as the drugmakers work together on two medicines that treat a lung condition.

BaroFold Closes Private Capital Funding Round
BaroFold, Inc., a privately held Colorado-based company and CU licensee, recently completed a $2.25 M private capital financing round that includes investments by a number of recognized biotechnology entrepreneurs and Boulder Ventures LP. BaroFold started operations in 2003 to commercialize PreEMT High Pressure Technology, a patented protein disaggregation / refolding technology invented by founders Drs. Ted Randolph and John Carpenter at the University of Colorado.The company occupies an 8000+ sq ft laboratory outside of Boulder and offers a range of services, licenses and products to facilitate the disaggregation, refolding, formulation and cost economics of protein biotherapeutics.

CU Techology Part of the Better World Project
Honeycrisp apples, Google, the V-chip, nicotine patches and Taxol are products derived from technology transfer that have become household names. Others such as Exosurf, the PSA test, Altropane, Rheo Knee and SpeechEasy may not be as well-known, but have affected society profoundly - saving lives and improving well-being. AUTM's Report from the Field features a story about Macugen, a CU discovery that has FDA approval for treating vision loss.

CU Attorney Speaker on Tech Transfer Issues At AUTM Annual Meeting
Kristin Diamond, Assistant University Counsel, and the CU attorney responsible for the University's technology transfer matters, spoke at the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Annual Meeting on March 2, in Orlando, FL. Ms. Diamond's presentation, entitled Beyond the Metrics, Overcoming Institutional Barriers for Technology Transfer for Public Good, was one of two flagship panel discussions on the conference's theme of "improving society." In her presentation, Ms. Diamond highlighted three successful cases of technology transfer for societal good from CU, including the University's two recipients of Gates Foundation in Grand Challenges in Health Care, the successful non-profit corporation, Colorado Weigh, and an innovative software development licensing process for the wireless MAPS (Memory Aiding Prompting System), a tool kit for providing support to persons with cognitive disabilities, developed as a part of the Coleman Institute.

TTO's Learning Laboratory: The Student Connection

Launching a Technology-Based Startup: TTO's Summer Internship Program
The TTO is currently seeking MBA students and Front-Range business professionals and firms with an interest in volunteering their time and expertise to serve as business advisors to the summer 2006 program.

Spotlight On:

CU HSC's Technology of the Month:
CU1149H - ActiveInvasive EEG

CU Boulder Technology of the Month:
2002.065B - Dynamically Configurable Photonic Crystals

CU Company of the Month:
Founded in 1999 with HSC technology, Replidyne's next-generation antibiotics are getting investors' attention. In 2005, the company completed a $62.5MM round of financing and in February had its first New Drug Application accepted by the FDA. Three more NDAs are planned over the next three years.

Upcoming Events

TTO UCDHSC Open House
April 6, 2006, Aurora, CO - Come and attend UCDHSC Open House and Bioventure Workshop.

Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program
April 6, 2006, Boulder, CO - Re-examining The Patent System: This conference will evaluate the state of the patent system and survey avenues for reform. In particular, it will evaluate whether there are opportunities to game the system by acquiring patents that enable firms to engage in a game of hold-up for those relying on standards that include the patented technology. It also will evaluate whether the Patent and Trademark Office's (PTO) notorious track record of issuing bad patent can be fixed, perhaps with the aid of a post-grant review process.

Annual CBSA meeting to be held at University of Colorado April 18th
April 8, 2006, Boulder, CO - 4001 Discovery Dr.- The annual meeting of the Colorado Bioscience Association will be held at CU starting at 4pm April 18th. The meeting will be at the CU East Campus (also called the CU Research Park) building at the NW corner of Foothills Parkway and Colorado Ave. This building has ample free parking. As part of the event, David Allen, the CU Assoc. VP for Technology Transfer, will give a presentation on "Ingredients for Technology Transfer Success" and assess the technology transfer situation at CU in light of these factors.

What Every Inventor Needs to Know About Licensing Technology from CU
April 10, 2006, Aurora, CO - Fitzsimons Campus - Three presenters will discuss this topic from different perspectives.

Call for Presenters
The Rockies Venture Club is soliciting presenters for its 18th Annual Colorado Capital Conference, scheduled for Thursday, June 8, 2006 at the Denver Marriott City Center.

SOLAR 2006 Program
July 8 - 13, 2006, Denver, CO - Renewable Energy - Key to Climate Recovery
Come to SOLAR 2006 to learn, network, do business, network, greet old friends and make new ones, network, find a new job, network and re-charge your batteries!  The National Solar Energy Conference is attended by leading researchers, scientists, engineers, architects, designers, policymakers, contractors, installers, government leaders, strategic thinkers, teachers, utility representatives and other renewable energy decision-makers from around the United States and the world.

The AUTM Western Regional Meeting
July 16-18, Boulder, CO at St. Julien Hotel - The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), which is the professional association for TTOs, is holding its summer regional meeting in Boulder this year.

CU Resources

CITTI
Since July of 2005, the Colorado Institute for Technology Transfer and Implementation (CITTI) has provided support to the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) for technology transfer activities on the Colorado Springs campus.Working with the TTO and the UCCS Office of Sponsored Programs, CITTI provides assistance to faculty in the invention disclosure and commercialization processes. CITTI helps the TTO build and manage invention disclosure and business plan development teams. Formed around specific invention cases, the teams are composed of inventors, TTO licensing associates, graduate students, intellectual property attorneys, technology domain experts, early stage investors and serial entrepreneurs. This team-based approach has proven effective in leveraging the assets of the University and local business community, and is the basis of over half of the nearly 25 companies created based on CU intellectual property in the past two years. Examples of such spin-off company successes are the start-ups that have emerged from the laboratories of Terrance Boult and Karen Newell on the UCCS campus.

In 1990, The University of Colorado received an historic grant from El Pomar Foundation to establish CITTI. The Institute was created to assist the region, state, and nation to gain the industrial, technological, and business leadership required to establish and maintain economic stability and growth. The Institute acts as a bridge between scholarly disciplines, industry, and the wider community, and enables unique public/private partnerships that encourage the transfer of technology applications to development opportunities and economic solutions.

El Pomar Foundation, established in 1937, is one of the leading private, general-purpose philanthropic organizations in the Rocky Mountain West. The Foundation provides resources and opportunities to nonprofit organizations involved with arts and humanities, education, health, human services, and civic and community initiatives. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars throughout Colorado to programs and projects that have helped to define the Centennial State.

Innovation in the News

Ten Cool Colleges for Entrepreneurs includes CU Boulder Leeds School of Business
Business schools such as Babson and Stanford have long offered many excellent entrepreneurship programs. Here's a sampling of 10 cutting-edge programs for budding entrepreneurs.

United States Patent & Trademark Office Issues 7th Million Patent
The Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today issued patent No. 7 million to DuPont senior researcher John P. O'Brien for "polysaccharide fibers" and a process for their production. The fibers have cotton-like properties, are biodegradable and are useful in textile applications.

EU Plans New Institute of Technology
The European Commission said on Wednesday that it would push ahead with plans to establish a new flagship European Institute of Technology (EIT), despite widespread opposition from within the academic community.

$150 million Proposed for Arizona Biosciences
Arizona Lawmakers are aiming to boost the state's investment in bioscience with a $150 million fund to encourage breakthroughs in medicine, science and engineering.

High Price Asked to Lure Scientist to UW
The University of Washington is lobbying state lawmakers for $4.5 million to help recruit a star scientist to head up UW's nanotechnology program.

Government Health Researchers Pressed to Share Data at No Charge
Political momentum is growing for a change in federal policy that would require government-funded health researchers to make the results of their work freely available on the Internet.

Busy Time for Patents for New Supreme Court Lineup
Along with a lineup change on the Supreme Court bench for the first time in over 10 years, changes to existing federal patent law may also be in the works. Although much of the media spotlight has focused on NTP v. RIM [418 F.3d 1282] (whose case involving the Blackberry will probably be dropped pending a settlement acceptance of $612.5 million), the number of cases involving patent law is rather large this term.

In particular, three cases take over the spotlight. First, in eBay v. MercExchange, [401 F.3d 1323] the Supreme Court will address whether there is a right to an injunction when a patent infringement is found. If an immediate right to injunction is found, this could impact consumers who want to purchase a disputed product during the course of litigation. Second, in LCHA v. Metabolite, [370 F.3d 1354] the Supreme Court will revisit the issue of what qualifies as "nature" under US patent law, which in turn will determine what discoveries can and cannot be patented. Third, in In Re Tamoxifen Citrate Antitrust Litigation, [429 F.3d 370] the Supreme Court will address how patent law and antitrust law intersect, specifically, whether a company can monopolize the market for a specific drug by suppressing the release of generic equivalents.

With new members on the bench for the first time since 1994, the direction of patent law will definitely be one to watch. Stay tuned for future news.

External Resources

Issues in Structuring Relationships Among Members of the Founder Team
MIT Sloan School of Management Lecturer Joe Hadzima: "[T]he reality is that most ventures fail because of people issues and are really a failure of the relationships of the team members."

Parting Quotes

"Discovery is almost never a single idea. Always look for new related problems after solving the initial one". Hungarian Mathematician George Polya. 1945