SSTI Digest

Oleg Kaganovich will resign as CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) in June 2007, but remain a member of SARTA's board of directors.

According to the latest stats on venture capital investments, half of all U.S. VC investment during the last quarter of 2006 supported companies in two small areas of the country: Silicon Valley and New England (primarily the Boston metro area). With the exception of only a handful of other large metro areas and, since the origin of the modern venture capital industry some 25 years ago, most other cities have struggled to attract the attention of venture capitalists. This struggle can be especially difficult for the nation’s secondary cities – cities that do not rank among the 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas. According to the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), these cities receive only 13 percent of all venture capital deals and only 20 percent of total investment dollars. Though these cities account for approximately half of the U.S. population and U.S. business establishments, they have not experienced a proportional benefit from the venture capital revolution. A recent study published by the Federal Bank of Boston argues that secondary cities can adopt certain strategies to successfully lure…

It is the opening day of AUTM’s 2007 annual conference in San Francisco, the largest gathering ever of individuals from around the world interested in university technology transfer. Academe’s role in helping to commercialize technology has been under attack during the past few years by multinationals complaining institutions are too difficult to work with, by those who think Bayh-Dole needs to be tweaked and by others within academia who believe the university’s fundamental mission and culture is compromised by increased partnerships with industry. It is then quite timely that a small roundtable of some of America’s most successful universities at turning their faculty and student research into revenue streams for the institutions released a brief white paper outlining nine guiding principles or ideals for all university technology transfer offices to consider while pursing their common goal of helping the private sector to commercialize academic research results. In the Public Interest: Nine Points to Consider in Licensing University Technology is penned collectively by technology…

A gala held last weekend at Google headquarters in California officially kicked off a $50 million fundraising campaign for the X Prize Foundation, which provides funds for the development of new prizes. The prizes are designed to support breakthroughs for specific challenges in medicine, energy production and consumption, education, and transportation. Big-money, high-profile awards have been used to encourage innovation for centuries, but a new array of these prizes is rapidly advancing entrepreneurship opportunities and philanthropic causes. Some of the awards announced in the past six months include: $25 million, sponsored by the Virgin Group’s Richard Branson, to remove one billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year for a decade; $10 million, from the X Prize Foundation, to create technology that can map 100 human genomes in 10 days; and, $1 million, from the movie rental company Netflix, to produce an algorithm that can predict customer preferences 10 percent better than current methods. Some contend this recent spurt in awards is the…

Energy giant BP has announced that the University of California at Berkeley, in partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will receive a total of $500 million to host a research center dedicated to developing biofuel technologies. The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) will conduct both basic and applied biological research relevant to energy. BP and the university plan to launch research programs this summer.   UC Berkeley was one of five universities around the world invited to apply when BP announced last July that that the company would dedicate $500 million over the next 10 years to a biofuels research facility. Other applicants included UC San Diego, UIUC, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge University, and Imperial College London. To improve the bid from the California universities, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 includes $40 million in lease revenue to support the research center if either of the two California institutions won. The state also plans to contribute $70 million to build a headquarters for the institute, which…

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that his proposed budget for 2007-08 will include a $95 million initiative to support new and existing facilities for high-tech research. The California Research and Innovation Initiative would provide funding to several university-based projects around the state hosting clean energy, biotechnology, and nanotechnology research and commercialization activities. Gov. Schwarzenegger explained that his initiative would build upon the state’s academic resources and large pool of scientists and engineers to ensure California’s continued leadership in high-tech innovation.   Under the governor’s proposal, the Helios Project, a sustainable energy research initiative at the University of California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, would receive $30 million in lease revenue bonds to construct a new energy/nanotechnology research facility. The facility would host cooperative research between researchers at academic institutions across the country to incorporate recent advances in synthetic biology and nanomaterials into developing effective and affordable energy alternatives. Helios researchers…

In late October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order designed to stimulate the growth and utilization of broadband networks throughout the state of California. Some the major components of this initiative include: Create a broadband task force comprised of individuals from the public and private sectors, to provide reports on how California can take advantage of opportunities and eliminate barriers to broadband access and adoption; Produce a pricing policy so private broadband firms can efficiently purchase the “right of way” to place broadband along state roads; Designate a single agency to be the lead coordinator for implementing broadband policy, which will also have the responsibility of mapping the existing broadband system and then creating a database to link private broadband companies with state transportation agencies; and, Make wireless Internet access available within more state buildings to deliver public meetings, training materials and other state resources. The governor’s office cites a handful of studies to support its efforts. For example, the California “One Gigabyte or Bust” Broadband Initiative claims that…

Two states had measures on the ballot to address energy conservation and encourage alternative energy production and technology. While Washington's measure passed, California's failed.   Washington's Initiative 937 will result in targets for energy conservation and use of renewable energy resources for all electric utility companies that serve more than 25,000 customers in the state. Electric companies will required to provide 3 percent of total electricity to its retail customers from renewable resources by 2012, with that percentage eventually increasing to 15 percent of total electricity distribution by 2020.  Renewable resources include wind farms, solar panels and geothermal plants. This initiative passed 52 percent to 48 percent.   California's initiative proposed to levy a tax on oil extracted within the state to fund a new program whose goal is to reduce petroleum consumption by 25 percent, promoting incentives for alternative energy and more efficient technologies, and encouraging education and training. Anticipated revenues from this tax were estimated to be between $225 million and $485 million each year.…

In a time of tightening budgets and funding shortfalls, many institutions are searching for innovative sources of capital to finance their investment needs. Financial Innovations for Accelerating Medical Solutions, a recent report from the Milken Institute, provides some insight on inventive ways to raise capital for the biotechnology industry.    Milken convened two workshops in the fall of 2005, one in Santa Monica and one in New York City, of various stakeholders in the drug development process. These workshops included patent brokers and intellectual property lawyers, private equity investors and analysts, insurance consultants, biotechnology entrepreneurs, academics, and members of foundations. The report decries the lack of venture capital for early-stage product investments, especially between the preclinical and clinical stages of development.   Six main recommendations are provided to reduce credit risk, attract investors, and accelerate commercialization in a broad range of disease areas: Reduce the scientific risk through the diversification or pooling of intellectual property. Use…

William Carney is the new president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, a private, nonprofit regional economic development organization in southern California. Carney replaces Paul Hiller, who left earlier this month to take a similar job in Boise, Idaho.

Separate MERIT Study of European Tech Transfer Contradicts Some Conclusions A new study from the Milken Institute confirms the success of California universities in commercializing life science research and reaffirms the international leadership of the U.S. in transfer of biotechnology from universities. Using some of the same data, however, a recent paper from the Netherlands found European tech transfer rates have been generally underestimated and intercontinental comparisons not as easy as one might assume. Milkens Findings Mind to Market: A Global Analysis of University Biotechnology Transfer and Commercialization, the 320-page Milken report released last week, ranks publication, patenting, and commercialization activity in biotech at 683 research universities around the world. Californias universities are consistently ranked in the top tiers of each category, most notably the University of California-San Francisco, which played a major role in launching the biotech industry 30 years ago. The study also provides 28 country profiles of national biotech activity and an assessment of university technology…

The Clovis, Calif.-based Central Valley Business Incubator selected Craig Scharton as its new chief executive, replacing outgoing chief executive Glenn Patch.