Week 6

Question 1

What are some considerations for collaborations?

Answer 1

-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?

Question 2

When should you bring a collaborator?

Answer 2

When you have clear preliminary data

Question 3

What’s included in the outline for a collaboration agreement?

Answer 3

1. Purpose of collaboration
2. Expected contributions of each
3. Financial responsibilities of each
4. Milestones
5. Reporting
6. Authorship

Question 4

Material Transfer Agreement

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Sponsored Research Agreement

Answer 5

Academic research funded by a company

1. Project control
2. Tech representatives
3. Reporting
4. Publishing rights
5. Invention rights
6. Licensing rights
7. Discussion/collaboration

Question 6

Technology Transfer

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What are the forms of intellectual property?

Answer 7

-Patents, trademarks, and copyright

Question 8

What are patents?

Answer 8

-Cover new and useful inventions or any new and useful improvement to an existing invention

Question 9

What are trademarks?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What is Copyright?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What are the steps in the invention to license?

Answer 11

Discussion, disclosure, evaluation, filing, marketing, and licensing

Question 12

Canadian patents

Answer 12

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)

Question 13

What most importantly can a patent search do for you?

Answer 13

-Find information that prevents duplication of research
-Find a solution to a technical problem

Question 14

What is translational research?

Answer 14

Converting basic research into medical business “bench to bedside”

two examples:

1. Academic to Not-for-profit ex. structural genomics consortium
2. Academic to Pharma ex. AstraZeneca and Merck

Question 15

What is Structural Genomics Consortium?

Answer 15

-A not-for-profit organization that focuses on 3D protein crystal structures that are deposited into PDB

Motto: “pioneering science to inspire pioneering medicine”

Question 16

What is the benefit of using Structural Genomics Consortium?

Answer 16

-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

Question 17

What is High Through-put Research?

Answer 17

Screening for pharmaceutical targets using; small chemical molecules, and genetic clones

A time saving method of working with thousands of components at once

Question 18

What does the assembly line format allow?

Answer 18

1. Scientists working in their specialty
2. Team effort
3. Time effectiveness

Question 19

What is the order of the assembly line?

Answer 19

Bioinformatics–> cloning–> test expression & large scale production—> purification —> biochemistry

Question 20

What are the benefits of information sharing?

Answer 20

-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

Question 21

What are some obstacles?

Answer 21

-Non-profit organizations are always looking for the next grant

-Profits are for the pharmaceutical industry to be made

Question 22

What did the Pharma Partner AstraZeneca do?

Answer 22

-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

Question 23

What did the Pharma Partner Merck do?

Answer 23

-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

Question 24

What are the benefits of working with the pharmaceutical industry?

Answer 24

-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

Question 25

What are the obstacles of working with pharma?

Answer 25

-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