Week 6 Flashcards
What are some considerations for collaborations?
-Make sure you set your terms up front
-How much is each party responsible for?
-How will it be funded? (joint-grant)
-What are the mutual deadlines?
When should you bring a collaborator?
When you have clear preliminary data
What’s included in the outline for a collaboration agreement?
- Purpose of collaboration
- Expected contributions of each
- Financial responsibilities of each
- Milestones
- Reporting
- Authorship
Material Transfer Agreement
Other researchers request materials you have created from your lab
-Some institutions require an MTA signed before anything is sent out and vice versa
-May be between academic and industrial labs, a clear explanation of fees, rights and acknowledgements are outlined
Sponsored Research Agreement
Academic research funded by a company
- Project control
- Tech representatives
- Reporting
- Publishing rights
- Invention rights
- Licensing rights
- Discussion/collaboration
Technology Transfer
Academic labs heading towards commercialization
-Most universities will own the intellectual property for the inventor will get an agreed percentage of the profits
-Patents on new techniques and equipment modifications licensed to industry to create marketable products
What are the forms of intellectual property?
-Patents, trademarks, and copyright
What are patents?
-Cover new and useful inventions or any new and useful improvement to an existing invention
What are trademarks?
May be one or a combination of words, sounds or designs used to distinguish the goods or services of on person or organization from those of others
What is Copyright?
Provides protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works (including computer programs) and other subject-matter known as performer’s performances, sound recordings and communication signals
What are the steps in the invention to license?
Discussion, disclosure, evaluation, filing, marketing, and licensing
Canadian patents
Give the inventor the right to stop others in Canada from making, using or selling from the date the patent is granted to a maximum of 20 years from the date of filing
The inventor may license the patent for others to use
Canadian government asks for 18 months in which the patent is open access for others to read but cannot use themselves– great tool for learning what the latest innovations are in your field
The patent does not protect other countries from using the invention (Patent cooperation treaty needed which covers Canada also)
What most importantly can a patent search do for you?
-Find information that prevents duplication of research
-Find a solution to a technical problem
What is translational research?
Converting basic research into medical business “bench to bedside”
two examples:
- Academic to Not-for-profit ex. structural genomics consortium
- Academic to Pharma ex. AstraZeneca and Merck
What is Structural Genomics Consortium?
-A not-for-profit organization that focuses on 3D protein crystal structures that are deposited into PDB
Motto: “pioneering science to inspire pioneering medicine”
What is the benefit of using Structural Genomics Consortium?
-Visualizing the protein assists in drug design to inhibit or enhance function
-Increases drug discovery by 18 months or more
-Public knowledge.. stimulates research interest
What is High Through-put Research?
Screening for pharmaceutical targets using; small chemical molecules, and genetic clones
A time saving method of working with thousands of components at once
What does the assembly line format allow?
- Scientists working in their specialty
- Team effort
- Time effectiveness
What is the order of the assembly line?
Bioinformatics–> cloning–> test expression & large scale production—> purification —> biochemistry
What are the benefits of information sharing?
-Potentially faster medications being created
-Targets are highly visible (structure and functional groups) use this to select screening molecules
-Half the work is completed, half the cost is eliminated
What are some obstacles?
-Non-profit organizations are always looking for the next grant
-Profits are for the pharmaceutical industry to be made
What did the Pharma Partner AstraZeneca do?
-Designed computer software to determine connections between ethnicity and obesity with adipose tissue parameters i.e. size and shape
-Gained knowledge on which population groups are at highest risk for CVD
What did the Pharma Partner Merck do?
-Examined Zetia (ezetimibe) and its combination with other small molecules/proteins regarding LDLR and PCSK9
-Pharma discovers a small molecule that works, we help them determine how it works so improvements can be made
-Suggests targets of small molecules and protein signalling pathways to investigate
What are the benefits of working with the pharmaceutical industry?
-Independent funding (funding is often renewed)
-Resources extend further than money
1. Linking pharma tech labs to academic labs (networks expanded)
2. Supply/equipment sharing
3. Delegation of experiments to maximize expertise
4. Co-authored publications with pharma are cited 4X more
What are the obstacles of working with pharma?
-Required to provide progress reports (quarterly updates on results)
-Restricted time frame
-Research targets must be beneficial to company- decreases diversity and choice of projects
