Steven M. FergusonDeputy Director, Licensing & Entrepreneurship, Office of Tech. Transfer, Nat'l Institutes of
Health (U.S.)

The United States currently leads the world in government support for non-military research and development (R&D), especially support for work that directly relates to health and human development. A focal point for such investments to date in biomedical research has been the National Institutes of Health (NIH), receiving approximately $29 billion in fiscal year 2009. Approximately 9% of this funding is spent annually on internal R&D projects (intramural research) utilizing the work of about 9,000 scientists. The other funding is largely utilized to support the work of 35,000 non-government investigators (extramural research) at various colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad as well as corporate research undertaken at small businesses.

Whether internal or externally based, the biomedical research performed has led to a large variety of novel basic and clinical research discoveries–all of which generally require commercial partners in order to develop them into products for hospital, physician or patient use. Thus the NIH needs and actively seeks corporate partners or licensees to commercialize its research into products to help fulfill it mission as a healthcare agency.

The presentation will examine the progress to date of the NIH technology transfer program in meeting these goals as well as offering suggestions and practical advice for Korean research institutions seeking to utilize technology transfer to improve biomedical product development for their home, Asian or international markets.