What should be the exit strategy and technology transfer of diverse academic seeds? | From Japan to Belgium: A Biotech Field Report Series

“Even the Flemish universities, which are internationally leading in the field of biotechnology, have a wealth of intellectual property in terms of quantity and diversity, but not enough specialised personnel—in the life sciences sector—to make appropriate use of it and promote its development internationally. TTOs act as a bridge between universities and companies, providing support for IP strategies. The TTA supports the effective transfer of promising research results to industry. After the course, under the guidance of the TTO, a group assignment was given to conduct an FTO study of a real project and develop a business strategy.

Open innovation is an approach in which not just one organisation, but several research institutions and companies work together to develop new ideas and technologies.

In addition to collaborating with companies (e.g., through joint research) and licensing patents and technologies, there are other ways to bring the results of universities and other research institutions into society, such as the creation of spin-offs and spin-outs.

Notably, when innovative technologies that challenge conventional wisdom emerge, they require a development approach that differs from the existing framework and, moreover, if this competes with existing technologies, it may be difficult for large companies to promote the new technology. In such cases, the creation of spin-offs/spin-outs is considered, but it is not easy for university researchers with limited experience to take technology development forward. In addition, experienced managers who can be relied upon are often reluctant to become managers of high-risk start-ups. As a result, more than 90% of start-ups misjudge their development timelines and fail to raise funding in time.

So what elements need to happen for a spin-off/spin-out to be successful? The "6 T's" were introduced during the course as points that developers need to consider from an investment perspective: technology, team, timing, terms, and transparency.

In 2005, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman made the groundbreaking discovery that replacing some of the components of mRNA can inhibit inflammatory responses in vivo. The significance of this was not understood at the time, and the company they founded the following year, RNARx, did not achieve significant results; in 2010, Moderna, a US company, was founded based on their findings, and the following year Karikó and BioNTech (Germany) started a collaboration. Subsequently, Moderna (US) and BioNTech (Germany) (co-developed with Pfizer) separately carried out research and development of mRNA vaccines, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, they succeeded in bringing a vaccine to the world in the shortest development time in history.

This case illustrates that even with superior technology, the path to widespread societal adoption is not easy and depends on many factors. Sometimes, development through collaborative research or licensing to other companies can bring technologies and products to society more quickly than a spin-off/spin-out.”