Citing impressive achievements in moving academic
research into commercial ventures, a
Maryland business group has selected the Johns Hopkins
University Office of Technology Transfer as
a winner in its fourth annual Deal of the Year
competition.
The Maryland Chapter of the Association for Corporate
Growth recently chose the Johns
Hopkins staff for top honors in technology and
biotechnology, one of three categories in which awards
were given. In announcing the selection, the association
chapter praised Johns Hopkins Technology
Transfer for its role in spinning out 12 companies and
raising $76 million for these ventures over the
past year.
Aris Melissaratos, senior adviser to the university's
president for enterprise development,
pointed out that the business launches and fund raising
took place "in a difficult economic
environment, and this speaks to the quality and potential
of the science. This also is a tribute to the
culture change being achieved throughout all schools of The
Johns Hopkins University."
The university performed $1.55 billion in science,
medical and engineering research in fiscal
year 2007, making it the leading U.S. academic institution
in total research and development spending
for the 29th year in a row, according to the latest
National Science Foundation ranking. Johns Hopkins
recently launched a strategic initiative to encourage more
effective commercialization of its research.
Melissaratos, a former secretary of the Maryland
Department of Business and Economic
Development, joined Johns Hopkins in 2007. He has been
instrumental in these efforts to enhance
commercialization and entrepreneurial initiatives while
maintaining the university's traditional
research focus by stabilizing the Technology Transfer
Office under the leadership of Wes Blakeslee
and Glen Steinbach, who are supported by a skilled
technical and administrative staff.
The 12 Johns Hopkins start-ups launched in fiscal year
2008 focused on potential medical and
public health treatments and diagnostic tools. Their goals
included cancer treatments, tissue
regeneration for nerve injuries, stem cell therapy and
remediation of polluted groundwater.
Seven of the companies are based in Maryland, three of
them in the new Science + Technology
Park near the Johns Hopkins medical campus in East
Baltimore.
The university's technology transfer staff hopes to
maintain this momentum over the coming
year. "We have an additional 21 potential companies in the
start-up pipeline," Blakeslee said, "many of
which will hopefully be spun out in the next 12 months."