Genetic Engineering of Plants Agricultural Research Opportunities and Policy Concerns (1984) / Chapter Skim
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University-Industry Relations
University-Industry Relations
Pages 60-68
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From page 60... ...
To do so, they have drawn heavily on the resources of the university, either through establishing consulting or contracting agreements with individual researchers or research partnerships with the university. By contrast, academic researchers were among the first to realize the vast economic potential of the new genetic technologies.
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From page 61... ...
Hoechst AG, a West German chemical firm, is spending $70 million over the next 10 years to develop a department of molecular biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard University affiliate. Washington University has a 5-year, $23.5 million contract with Monsanto Co.
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From page 62... ...
To Omenn, the "people problems" are of the greatest concern "the delicate, crucial, and rather complicated relationships between the individual faculty member and the university the difficult matter of avoiding conflict of interest and protecting the intellectual property of all colleagues involved in an academic enterprise." Another concern is that scientists who hold equity or managerial positions in a commercial venture may neglect their students to perform more lucrative projects for their industrial sponsor. When a professor has two employers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are particularly vulnerable.
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From page 63... ...
Yet, that risk is manageable and outweighed by the benefits of such collaboration to the university, industry, and society. As economist Vernon Ruttan stated, "a rapidly expanding MAINTAINING THE COMPETITIVE EDGE The following comments are excerpted from the presentation of Reuvan Sacher, director of biological research at Monsanto Co.
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From page 64... ...
Its board of directors includes the presidents or research vice-presidents of the major corporations headquartered in the state including Eastman Kodak, General Electric, IBM, Xerox, and Corning Glass Works— as well as state leaders in public policy and finance. As one of its functions, the foundation identified eight promising technologies and establishecT a collaborative research center for each.
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From page 65... ...
As an example of some of the factors to be faced in starting a biotechnology company, Anthony Faras spoke at the convocation about Molecular Genetics, Inc., a firm he founded with Frank Pass in 1979 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While the individual details of each biotechnology venture are unique, their futures all depend on a business plan that includes capital, research personnel and facilities, and potential products to generate revenues.
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From page 66... ...
There is also a vast potential market for genetically engineered crops, though the development time is far longer than that required for vaccines or pharmaceuticals. Once MGI was established in the veterinary area, Faras ancl Pass reasonecl, they wou Icl begi n work on plants, specifica~ fly on improving the protein content and feed quality of corn.
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From page 67... ...
Product development would require isolating the appropriate viral or bacterial genes and inserting them into a bacterial host that would then produce the vaccine protein. v, , , To produce a commercial product, vast amounts of a vaccine protein are necessary, which means that genetically modified bacteria must be grown on a large scale in fermenters.
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From page 68... ...
68 GENETIC ENGINEER OF PLANS described the financial ~tuaBon attributed to new biotechnology firms. ah new revenues' the amount of losses we are incurring ~ Iooklng better each month./ OveraH' the biotechnology boom seems to be reaching equilibrium of sops.
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