July 25,
2005
Med Center, Johnson & Johnson team up
he Medical Center recently announced the development of a Discovery Concept Fund to target promising early-stage research generally conducted by junior scientists who have ideas but often do not have ready access to funding. Supported through a partnership with Johnson & Johnson, the fund is designed to nurture research and technologies that have the potential to lead to new health care products.
“The Medical Center has made an enormous investment in recent years to expand our research capabilities,” says David Guzick, dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “As we look to the future, we are compelled to seek out private sources of revenue which will enable us to grow our biomedical research enterprises. This partnership will also help us better utilize the talents of our faculty and our research infrastructure to translate innovative discoveries into useful technologies and treatments that can be used by patients around the world.”
The Discovery Concept Fund will be jointly administered by Johnson & Johnson and the Medical Center and will be funded on a renewable basis by Johnson & Johnson.
“The University of Rochester Medical Center is one of a few select partners for the Discovery Concept Fund,” says Ted Torphy, corporate vice president for science and technology at Johnson & Johnson. “Based on the quality of their science and an environment for collaboration and entrepreneurship, the only limit in our relationship that I can see will be the amount of innovation that its scientists can produce.”
This partnership comes at a time when the Medical Center and other biomedical research institutions are facing significant funding challenges. While the Medical Center has doubled its total research funding over the last seven years to $210 million, $142 million of which came from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the rate of growth has decelerated in recent years due to the leveling off of the NIH budget.
The fund will be governed by a committee consisting of equal members from both the Medical Center and Johnson & Johnson. The committee will oversee the administration of the fund including the solicitation, evaluation and funding of research proposals. Awards will consist of what is termed “no rights” grants. Johnson & Johnson will have no special rights to any discoveries or patents that arise from research supported by the agreement, and all intellectual property rights to the discoveries will be retained by the Medical Center and its inventors.
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