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Hoping to advance the translation of technologies into products for patient care, Children’s Hospital Boston launched the Technology Development Fund last month. Through internal awards to Children’s investigators and outsourcing to contract research organizations (CROs), the fund will eventually give out more than $1 million per year. It will be administered through Children’s new Technology and Innovation Development Office, or TIDO, formerly the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
The new fund will pay for projects that traditionally aren’t done in academic labs, but are necessary to carry discoveries into the preclinical and clinical stage, such as synthetic or medicinal chemistry, toxicity and pharmacodynamic studies and prototype construction. “Many of our technologies are in a very early stage, sometimes not much more than an idea on a napkin,” says Monique Yoakim-Turk, PhD, TIDO’s technology development manager. “We want to get to products that impact patient care, so we need to come up with a more complete package.”
A Request for Proposals was issued on March 16, and initial Letters of Intent are due April 8. An external advisory board—composed of venture capitalists and leaders of biotech, pharmaceutical and device companies—will vet the applications and make recommendations on projects to be funded. They will also act as project advisors, giving Children’s research groups direct access to feedback from the business community. The first grants will be announced by this summer.
With the hospital now assuming some of the risk in the development of new drugs, devices and diagnostics, it’s hoped that more discoveries bubbling out of Children’s labs will be licensed by industry and enjoy commercial success. “Before, we thought this fund would help open more doors to industry,” says TIDO Director Erik Halvorsen, PhD, “but now it’s necessary to open any doors.” |
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