| Utek Corporation: Promoting Innovation |
| Professional Services | |||
| Thursday, 01 May 2008 | |||
 Dr. Clifford Gross’s firm makes sure innovations get to corporate R&D departments instead of languishing in universities.
The US currently has more than 2,000 colleges and universities and about 700 federally funded research labs churning out inventions almost daily. “They are really the engine room driving the economy—we have the biggest network of research institutions in the world,” said Dr. Clifford Gross, CEO of Utek.  Dr. Clifford Gross, Based in Tampa, Fla., Utek was created in 1998 out of the University of South Florida (USF) transfer office’s desire to more effectively license new discoveries and inventions to the marketplace. Gross, then a professor at USF’s college of public health, was asked by the university’s vice president for research to conceptualize a new technology transfer process. In the process, he created a successful company. At first, Utek only transferred technologies between researchers and companies; it has now expanded to provide what it refers to as innovation services to any industry. Gross explained that companies in many industries are now embracing open innovation, a methodology first outlined by Henry William Chesbrough, in his book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting From Technology (HBS Press, 2003). “Open innovation is the latest trend in research and development,” explained Gross. “It refers to a having ideas and technologies in the market go to where they can best be used. With open innovation, companies can acquire inventions created outside their businesses to improve the quality and range of products that they offer. This results in more discoveries being used to develop more products and services to grow business, fuel the economy, and improve the quality of life.” Indeed, according to Boston-based Aberdeen Group, 33% of American companies surveyed plan to implement an open innovation program in the next two years. During the last year, Utek developed a comprehensive package of services for its clients and strove to diversify and expand its client base. Today, the company offers four inter-related services: strategic innovation consulting, patent analysis, global technology licensing, and Web-based IP services. Last year, the company had 39 active corporate clients with an average market capitalization of $20 million; today, its 63 clients have an average market capitalization greater than $1 billion. Its clients are also significantly more diversified than they were last year, with almost a quarter based overseas. Utek also recently acquired IP transfer company Pharmalicensing.com, which will expand the company’s services into the life sciences area, and Chicago-based Strategos, a leading strategic innovation consulting firm “We want to become the leading innovation service provider in the world, and to do that, we are working to provide our services in an industry agnostic way,” said Gross. “In these difficult financial times, Utek’s main role is to enable any company to expand its R&D capabilities through our global innovation network, becoming better innovators even if they have to reduce their research and development expenditures.” Measuring success Utek’s goal to become the world leader in innovation services is in line with the restructuring it has experienced, but the foundation for success was laid much earlier. Since the company’s inception, Gross has understood the importance of a good leadership team within the company. Each member of the current executive team was hired after a thorough screening process. “It takes a long time, and though it’s not foolproof, that process is absolutely essential because a company is never better than the management team you assemble. It can be worse, but not better,” he said. Utek measures the success of its people through the success of its customers. Gross adjusted his company’s strategic goals to center around open innovation because the company listened to what the customers needed and is now able to deliver more services to help them. “We’re here to help them solve problems, so we strive in everything we do to build our skill set to better serve them,” said Gross. What makes Utek somewhat unique is that it draws a line at which companies it is willing to serve. Since the beginning, said Gross, the company has maintained a strict policy of not licensing technologies that it doesn’t consider socially responsible. Utek will not, for example, transfer technologies involved in weapons systems. “We realize that these technologies are important to a lot of people. We simply don’t want to have them as part of our business,” said Gross. “Sometimes you have to say no.” One recent transfer that Utek gave an enthusiastic yes to was between the University of Louisville and Neostem, a New York City-based adult stem cell company. Dr. Mariusz Ratajczak, the director of the biology program at the university, led a team that discovered that very small embryonic-like stem cells found in adult bone marrow can be grown in a laboratory and differentiated into specific tissues, including heart, nerve, skin, muscle, pancreas, and bone marrow. The study, published in 2004, was the first of its kind, and Utek facilitated the transfer of rights from the university to Neostem to develop this discovery, which may result in new treatments for many diseases and conditions. “We’re very excited about that transfer,” said Gross. “We believe it has the potential to be quite helpful in the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine.” |
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American Executive is a RedCoat Publishing publication.
American Executive is a RedCoat Publishing publication.
