One of the pain points of technology transfer hospitals and universities face is that it can a lot of time and money to shepherd an idea to the point it can spin-off from the organization. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has formed a partnership with Osage University Partners, a venture capital fund that invests in new life science companies spun off from universities and academic research centers. It’s a milestone for the hospital’s technology transfer program.
Although its technology transfer office, led by Dr. Ellen Purpus, has been around for roughly 20 years, being entrepreneurial is relatively new for the children’s hospital. One spin-off company CHOP has produced is Vascular Magnetics to treat peripheral artery disease. A rotovirus vaccine called RotaTeq produced through joint research between CHOP and Wistar Institute is now sold by Merck.
“The startup world is a bit new to CHOP,” Purpus said in a phone interview. “As our technology transfer program matures, we are seeing more opportunities for potential partnerships. Now that we’re getting to be known for being more entrepreneurial and spinning out companies, it seems like the time is right.”
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Purpus pointed out that two of the hardest things to acquire for a spin-out are management and investment. “This partnership with Osage at least gives us another outlet to find an investor. To the extent that we can build a relationship and nurture it and give fair consideration to opportunities and give feedback, that can be useful.”
Osage University Partners invests in startup companies that commercialize academic research across medical devices and biotechnology, to name a couple of areas. It shares part of the resulting profits with those institutions to help promote entrepreneurial opportunities within those institutions, according to its website. It typically co-invests in conjunction with other venture companies.
