OTC_Annual_Report_2010

Off ice Of technOlOgy cOmmercial izat iOn r annual repOrt 2009-2010 page 2

r an increase in the number of disclosures – With 134 disclosures (a 60% increase over fy2009) it was a very prolific year for rutgers research. The rise in the number of inventions was a direct result of the sub-stantial increase in the research funding at rutgers which has been steadily on the upside for the last decade.

r consistent patent activity – 100 provisional and regular patents were filed in 2010 (com-pared to 94 in fy2009). The ip area also initi-ated a student intern program this past sum-mer. a few of our talented student interns are still contributing to the department; the program has far exceeded our expectations.

r licensing successes - While last year’s economy did not favor business develop-ment, technology transfer activities gen-erally increased as measured by license/option activity and revenue generation. We executed 80 licenses, options and similar agreements in fy2010. – a majority of the

for faculty with a passion for re-search and innova-tion, it’s an excit-ing time to be at rutgers university. Over the last year, the university has demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to

technology commercialization beginning with the warm welcome i received from president mccormick when i began my job as executive Director last fall.

With over $430 million in total research funding, rutgers is a research powerhouse not only in the northeast corridor but in the nation.

We’ve had many accomplishments in technology commercialization over the past year. i am pleased to highlight some of these below.

Director’s message

Table of Contents

Director’s message 2

faculty profile 4 - 5

technology highlights 6 - 7

Startup company news & highlights 8 - 14

center profile 15

Office of research alliances 16

intellectual property group 17 - 18

corporate contracts group 19

technology licensing group 20

Department highlights 21

about the Office of technology commercialization 22 - 23

Off ice Of technOlOgy cOmmercial izat iOn r annual repOrt 2009-2010

agreements negotiated are expected to lead to commercialization of university-owned technologies in the near term.

r increase in revenues – rutgers total licensing revenue increased from $8.1 million to $8.7 million. an additional $224,000 in equity was received by the department. The non-turf-grass revenues increased by over 50 percent from the prior year.

r Start-up successes - a major mission of rutgers is to positively impact the economy in our home state. Over the years, rutgers has created more than 70 spin-off compa-nies with a majority of these located within new Jersey. in fy2010 alone, eight new companies based on rutgers innovations were created. Seven of these were located in nJ, directly increasing the number of jobs in the state.

last year also brought several new initiatives, some have been implemented, and others will be implemented in fy2011.r increased staffing at Otc – Three new

licensing managers - two in life sciences, and one in physical sciences & engineer-ing, joined Otc after national searches. We also conducted a nationwide search for our first Director of Operations. We wel-comed andrew Wooten to this position in September. in addition, we plan on broaden-ing our internship program in the coming year.

r active role in autm – The office has been working hard to benchmark peer institu-tions in areas such as entrepreneurship and invention management. The entrepreneur-ship program being initiated at rutgers is a direct example of president mccormick’s vision of forging rutgers university ahead in this area. Otc has also played an active role in trade organizations such as autm and leS. as a personal commitment, i have become

autm’s aVp of professional Development, supporting education as well as international outreach.

r new alliances - as i look ahead, i see an even brighter future as we’ve formed many new relationships with various venture funds including allied minds, intellectual Ventures and triton Ventures. recently, allied minds signed a memorandum of agreement to sup-port rutgers spinoffs, committing $3 million for investment over the next three years. intellectual Ventures, a prominent ip based fund in Seattle, signed a partnership agree-ment with rutgers university. These and other partnerships will be instrumental in ensuring faculty and entrepreneurs have the necessary funds available to create future spinoff companies.

in the past, our office has successfully taken technologies from rutgers research programs into the marketplace to benefit the public - from introducing new varieties of cranberries, to creating computer learning programs for children to designing stents for surgical pa-tients. With rutgers increased commitment to the Otc, i foresee many more successes such as these.

in closing, i would like to acknowledge and thank the faculty, staff and students who dis-closed inventions in fy2010 and participated in the technology commercialization process. your discoveries are the foundation with which we build our successes upon. Thank you for continuing to drive innovation at rutgers.

Dipanjan nag executive Director, Otc


paula tallal’s story is not only one of Jersey roots….global reach but also an inspiring story of how one person can truly make a differ-ence in the lives of many. her neuroscience research that began in a newark, new Jersey lab has been translated into products that have been sold to over 3 million children in 44 coun-tries– more importantly her research and the resulting products have improved the commu-nications skills of millions.

The neuroscientist who started out as an art-history major never imagined being a business person and inventor. after receiv-ing a ph.D. in experimental psychology from cambridge university and teaching at Johns

hopkins university and the university of california, San Diego (ucSD), tallal was recruited to rutgers newark, together with Dr. ian creese, to create and be the co-Director of the center for molecular and Behavioral neuroscience, one of the first neuroscience programs dedicated to integrate cognitive and neural sci-ences. it was here she demonstrated that certain listening skills including memory, attention, processing speed and sequencing (mapS) were the basic cognitive building blocks that support

both spoken and written communication. a series of brain training exercises, disguised as computer games, using positive reinforce-ment and based on the mapS theory were designed and developed by tallal and her team at rutgers, in collaboration with a neurosci-ence team at the university of california, San francisco. These games were introduced at a rutgers summer computer camp. after four short weeks, the campers had significantly improved their language skills. tallal explains, “The programs’ games contained mental train-ing exercises that rewired the brain.”

The results were published in back to back issues of Science and as the cliché goes, the phone was ringing off the hook. tallal recalls, “parents and teachers were calling rutgers and asking how they could get this program.”

not knowing how to replicate or scale-up the program for a manufacturer, tallal contacted the Office of technology commercialization (previously the Office of corporate liaison and technology transfer) who had protected her intellectual property. The office helped her find the best outlet to license this technology. This was a new frontier and there were no obvious “buyers.” With the offices’ assistance, tallal cofounded the Scientific learning corporation, along with Drs. michael merzenich and Bill Jenkins at the university of california, San francisco, and rutgers colleague Steven miller in 1996. fast forWord,® their revolutionary software, was introduced in 1998.

“i couldn’t have asked for more sup-port from the various areas at rutgers,” says tallal. “from the tech transfer office to the provost and chancellor – the entire university has been extremely supportive both in giving me the background i needed to be success-ful, filing my patents correctly, handling the licensing and setting up the start-up com-pany. “ The Board of governor’s professor of neurosciences and co-Director of cmBn adds, “my desire was to remain a full-time academic which i was able to do. at the same time, i am able to consult with the company. it allows me to stay involved with the product of my research without it being a conflict of interest.”

as of June 30, 2010, tallal’s inventions have brought in over $5.5 million in royalty income to rutgers. today, Scientific learning corporation is publicly traded on the naSDaQ and provides education software to K-12 schools, educational institutions, speech and language clinics, and learning and tutorial cen-ters around the world. The company produces 12 different products and holds the rights to 83 issued patents and 26 patents pending. a spin-off company. posit Science corportation, targeted at the elderly population, has de-signed software based on the mapS training technology to head off cognitive dysfunction associated with aging.

Faculty Profile

paula tallal


fast forWord® is unlike the typical educa-tional software, which are usually electronic versions of textbooks. fast forWord® uses a sophisticated algorithm, based on tallal and her colleagues’ research that prompts each user uniquely, reflecting his or her strengths or weaknesses, to respond to stimuli. The program is calibrated to reward success-ful responses so that the brain rewires itself neurologically. results, demonstrated using both behavioral and neuroimaging techniques, include improved test scores, increased self-confidence and reduced costs compared to traditional intervention services.

tallal is especially enthusiastic about the ability to translate her work into so many set-tings – particularly K-12 education. She’s been influential with leading decision makers. She comments, “it’s exciting to bring neurosci-ence to them and explain how the brain can be improved to support learning by combining insights from cogntiive and neural sciences with technology.”

What is on the horizon for tallal? She’s now starting two studies with rutgers under-graduates using cognitive fitness tests devel-oped for children. The first group is part of the louis Stokes alliance for minority participation (gS-lSamp), a $5 million, five-year, multiple-school program that aims to substantially increase the numbers of under-represented

minority students graduating, and eventu-ally, pursuing careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, also known as Stem fields.

The second group is rutgers students entering the school with lower verbal scores on the accu-placer test. These students must pass developmental writing classes before they can enter the required writing program. “We’re hoping that by using fast forWord® we can help these students improve their cogni-tive and communication skills, skills that are so essential to overall academic performance.

The passion she feels for her research is evident when tallal talks about the posi-tive effect fast forWord® has had on people’s lives. She has received letters and emails from parents and children who have benefited from the product. parents whose child has done fast forWord® training approach her at scientific conferences to thank her and give her hugs. most recently, a friend of a neighbors asked if she could meet paula so she could thank her in person for the change fast forWord® had on her child’s life.

for additional information, on the fast forWord® product series, visit www.scientifi-clearning.com The product was just released for individual in-home use, visit www. brain-sparklearning.com for more information.

2010 At a Glance

In FY 2010 the office:

r processed 1149 corporate contracts, a 13% increase over the previous year

r generated $18.8 million in industry sponsored projects

r received 134 invention disclosures, a 60% increase over the previous year

r filed 55 provisional patent applications

r filed 45 regular u.S. patent applications

r received 26 issued u.S. patents

r completed 80 agreements (includes patent licenses, options, and comparable agreements)

r generated $8.7 million in licensing income

r created 8 start-up companies; 7 of which are headquartered in new Jersey

Faculty Profile


Technology Highlights

They are 3-D, they are intricate, and they are unique. The folding technologies created in the laboratory of Dr. elsayed, rutgers department of industrial and Systems engineering, enable a new generation of stronger, lighter and lower cost structural panel materials. The patented technology, a continuous folding concept and a unique process that creates 3-D engineering designs, endows conventional sheet materi-als with exceptional and superior performance characteristics. paper once folded according to a predefined pattern results in high strength, light weight and easy to produce products. The technologies are also capable of folding a wide range of material (copper, aluminum, paper, plastic, etc.) into intricate designs. all these have one common feature: their ability to be produced by folding a flat sheet of material.

physical Sciences – folding technology

created from a relatively new theory of mathematics, the complex folded sheet structures are generally polygonally faceted surfaces that repeat in two directions within parallel planes. The surfaces are nearly zero curvature (nXc), that is the geometry will fold and unfold into a flat plane and are called Dpfs (doubly periodic folded surfaces).

topline containers, llc recently licensed the “paper” applications of the folding tech-nology. topline is currently conducting exten-sive testing and evaluation of this technology. it plans to build a production line in 2011.

The technology is available for licensing in other applications and can be used to provide stronger, lighter and cost effective alterna-tives for walls, floors, roofs, modular shelters, recreational vehicles, containers, pallets and other industries.


While significant progress in the develop-ment of a single drug or diagnostic agent is worthy of praise, rutgers pharmaceutics professor ii patrick Sinko and his labo-ratory research assistant manjeet Deshmukh have developed a novel drug and diagnostic delivery system using poly(ethylene glycol) (peg) nanogels that prom-ises to improve the safety and efficacy of many existing drug and diagnostic agents. The peg nanogels are capable of forming stable aggregates of different sizes that allow for a specific organ/cell type to be targeted. This specificity is crucial for diseases such as tumor-based cancers where a high dosage is needed in a very specific region of the body. in addition to the ability to stabilize and solubi-lize the carried agent so that it may reach the

life Sciences - peg nanogels

intended target and deliver a full dosage, the delivery system allows for a reduced risk of

complications due to its abil-ity to prevent a wide disper-sal of the medicinal agent throughout the body.

Since the peg nano-gels are highly biocompat-ible and the food and Drug administration has classified peg as “generally regarded as safe” (graS) , this new drug and diagnostic delivery

technology provides the rare opportunity for rapid transi-tion from the laboratory to use in humans. The technol-

ogy will improve current treatments with few, if any, side effects in healthy tissues. most re-cently, professor Sinko received a major grant from the national cancer institute to treat lung cancer using this approach.

What is ip? Intellectual Property

What is a patent? An exclusive right granted for an invention.

Who can apply for a patent?

Only the actual inventor(s)

how long is the exclusivity period of a

patent?Twenty years

What is Otc? At Rutgers, OTC stands for The Office of Technology Commercialization

What is leS?LES is the Licensing Executives Society (LES). This is an international profes-sional society with nearly 11,000 members engaged in the development, use, transfer, marketing, and management of intellectual property.

What is technology transfer?

Technology transfer is a term used to describe a formal transfer of rights to use and commercialize new discoveries and innovations resulting from scientific research to another party. Universities typically transfer technol-ogy through protecting (using patents and copyrights), then licensing new innovations.(Source: AUTM website)

Did you know?

Technology Highlights

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of aggregated nanogel particles (ANPs). Inset: In vivo imaging system (IVIS) image of fluorescently attached ANPs showing highly selective accumu-lation in a rat lung.


Startup Company News & Highlights

A measure of success for any technology commercialization office is when faculty and students turn their innovations into viable companies. In FY2010, a total of eight (8) new companies were started from Rutgers, helping boost the local economy and showcasing the University as an entrepreneurial leader in the state. In addition to forming new companies, the OTC assists in developing the numerous start-up companies that have been founded on University technologies during the past twenty-one years. Over 50 of these companies are viable today, with the majority based in New Jersey.

professor april Benasich spends much of her time at rutgers center for molecular and Behavioral neuroscience laboratory inter-acting with babies. for over 15 years, Dr. Benasich, the director of the infancy Studies laboratory, has focused her research on brain development in infancy and early childhood, specifically the neural processes necessary for normal language and cognitive develop-ment. The ability to perform fine-grained acoustic analyses for non-speech sounds, in the tens of millisecond range, is critically important to analyzing and discriminating the speech stream. most of the timing cues involved in speech perception occur in a time scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. analysis of these timing cues, allows the child’s brain to set up language maps and promote automatic language processing. Dr. Benasich was the first to show that in infants this ability to analyze non-speech is highly predictive of later language. a child who is poor at process-ing rapid, sequential acoustic information, is at much higher risk of developing a language disorder.

Over the last eight years, Dr. Benasich has created a technology (patent-pending), that can identify infants at highest risk of poor language outcomes and “normalize” and optimize information processing at a very early

age, before language is acquired, by improving their processing of ongoing rapid, sequential acoustic information.

in 2008 aaB, llc, a spin-off company founded by professor Benasich, licensed the technology with a goal of bringing this poten-tially life-changing invention to the public. The beneficiaries are 4 – 6 month olds who have a higher risk of developing a language disorder.

These could be children with a family history of language disor-ders such as language impairment and/or dyslexia or very pre-term infants. according to Dr. Benasich, research studies have shown that using the interactive application she has designed allows for very early assessment and interven-tion. She comments, “you can change the efficiency of the child’s processing using certain sounds and visual stimuli to promote

development of optimal brain networks. Thus a language disorder might be prevented entirely from occurring. This intervention also appears to increase the effectiveness of information processing in normally developing children as well.”

aaB assembled a team of consultant experts in marketing, production development and engineering who are designing a series of prototypes which they can market to a partner company in the technology or educational toy industries. The company is developing a more

aaB, l.l.c.

Elise Hardwick, 4 1/2 months old, participates in one of a series of field trials to determine what types of toys best capture the attention of young infants.


general fun, toy-like device for the gen-eral public—to support and enhance babies’ cognitive and language development. also in progress is a more complex clinical tool that would be used in doctor’s offices and clinics to assess the baby and then deliver individual-ized treatment to correct potential language or cognitive delays.

Dr. Benasich concludes, “i think we can have a substantial impact on improving

children’s language and cognitive develop-ment. The result of my research and aaB’s work will be a fun, exciting and technologically sophisticated device for children that will en-courage parents and children to interact with each other. “

Though aaB is currently self-funded, the company will be looking at potential partners for sublicensing over the next year.

“Quite possibly the World’s most perfect building materials” is a tagline that is ex-tremely well suited to axion international. The new providence, new Jersey company designs, develops and manufac-tures a new generation of eco-friendly structural building materials that are unlike anything on the market. The patented technologies, developed by Thomas nosker’s team of scientists at rutgers Department of materials Science and engineering, transform recycled consumer and industrial plastics into a myriad of structural products includ-ing railroads, marine pilings and bridges. The american–made products are stronger, more cost effective and longer lasting than wood, steel or concrete.

The company began operations in 2007 and certainly reached a breakthrough in 2009 when at fort Bragg, n.c., a 70-ton m-1 abrams tank, too heavy for many bridges, repeatedly crossed a bridge made of axion’s 100% recy-cled plastic. The bridge crossing was featured in Business Week in September 2009. Other axion highlights in the previous year included:

in June 2010 the company announced it received its first two purchase orders for railroad crossties made out of recycled Structural composite (rSc) by moroccan national railway company (Oncf). Oncf operates more than 1100 miles (1900 kilometers) of track throughout morocco

(north africa) and carried over 29 million pas-sengers last year.

innovative composites international inc. announced in february 2010 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (“mOu”) with axion for the companies to utilize their respective complementary technologies in several projects and exchange thermoplastic products know-how. ici has utilized axion’s patented thermoplastic material in the design of the state-of-the-art composite containers developed jointly by ici and universal Storage containers, llc (uSc), the exclusive marketer and distributer of the finished containers, un-der the z2-Box™ name. For more information visit www.axionintl.com.

axion international



connotate is a leading provider of solutions that help companies collect data and content from the Web. leveraging patented technology developed at rutgers university, connotate provides clients with customized real-time Web information extraction capabilities that

help organizations cost effectively collect, analyze and distribute high-volumes of unstruc-tured Web data. connotate’s

solution helps individual organiza-tions detect changes, collect and orga-

nize data from client-targeted Web sources relevant to specific data needs. connotate’s

connotate inc.clients rely on real-time data – ranging from a few hundred to millions of Web pages per day – and this information powers products and services from some of the most successful data-driven companies in the world. located in new Brunswick, new Jersey, connotate is rapidly expanding both its client base and employee staff. clients include large publishing firms such as mcgraw-hill, associated press and Thomson reuters, data providers, govern-ment agencies, financial services firms and healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. most recently, the company gained a new interim ceO, Thomas meyer.

Below are a few of connotate’s exciting high-lights for fy 2010. r in august 2010, connotate’s agent

community gen2™ was recognized by KmWorld for the 5th consecutive year as a “trend-Setting product.” according to hugh mcKellar, KmWorld editor-in-chief, “This year, more than 600 products were assessed by our judging panel…connotate’s solu-tion stands out for being truly accessible to business users, easy-to-use, resilient and extremely scalable.”

r in June 2010, connotate raised $5.25 million in funding led by 406 Ventures. The company will use the new capital to increase its prod-uct offerings and expand sales and marketing operations to meet the growing demand for real-time data in key vertical markets.

r in february 2010, connotate was again named to KmWorld’s exclusive list, “100 companies That matter in Knowledge management.” This marks the 6th con-secutive year connotate has been named to the list, and demonstrates the com-pany’s continued leadership in knowledge management.

r connotate was named to econtent magazine’s “top 100 companies that matter most to the Digital content industry.” The judges noted product adaptations and in-novations when selecting connotate for in-clusion on the list for 2009 and commented that “connotate’s innovative approach to harvesting and delivering web data is mak-ing a lasting impact on the digital content industry…”

r connotate was recognized by analyst firm iDc as an innovative “information access company under $100m to Watch.” “iDc recognized connotate for its innovative approach to harvesting and delivering Web information quickly to its customers in multiple formats, including targeted alerts, spreadsheets, data streams and time-series trending data that can be customized by each user, and shared with others,” said Sue feldman, iDc’s Vp for Search and Discovery technologies.

For more information, visit www.connotate.com.



rutgers licensee, reVa medical inc., has achieved a major milestone in its efforts to bring its innovative products to market. recently the company filed for a $63 mil-lion initial public Offering on the australian Stock exchange. The company previously raised approximately $57 million in venture capital funding from groups including Domain partners, Saints capital, cerberus capital management, group Outcome, and Brookside capital. They have also demonstrated promis-ing results from ongoing clinical studies. plans are being made to apply for regulatory approvals in australia and europe before seeking clearance in the united States. reVa is targeting the large medical device market for coronary stents. The market for metal coronary stents used in patients with arteries that are more than 50% blocked is currently in excess of $5.5 billion worldwide. reVa’s technical advances could substantially expand this market while addressing a critical unmet need for cardiac patients.

reVa is one of the leaders in the race to develop a fully dissolvable or resorbable cardiac stent. These stents are seen as a great step forward in cardiac care relative to the metal stents currently in use. Stents are tiny mesh tubes that are used to prop open previ-ously clogged arteries. many existing stents

can be coated with drugs to prevent a build-up of scar tissue. Scar tissue can cause a blood vessel to become re-blocked. however, drug-coated stents slow the healing process and carry a higher risk of blood clots that can also block the vessel. reVa and others in this race believe that fully dissolvable stents can avoid these complications. Thus physicians who are wary of utilizing permanent metal stents in pa-tients whose arteries are not yet blocked, may be willing to try a temporary, bioabsorbable one. The approach is being validated by the efforts of industry giant abbott laboratories.

and while abbott’s efforts are beneficial to all competitors in the field, reVa believes that its technology has distinct advantages.

The enabling technology behind reVa’s lead product, the “rezolve” stent, is a revolu-tionary new biomaterial developed in the labo-ratory of professor Joachim Kohn at rutgers new Jersey center for Biomaterials. after sev-eral years of strong research collaboration with professor Kohn, and the development of new intellectual property, reVa and rutgers re-cently negotiated and signed a revised license agreement that will enable reVa to aggres-sively pursue its commercialization efforts.

For more information, visit www.teamreva.com.

reVa medical inc.




Strongly encouraged by high schools and col-leges to make the highly successful rutgers Self-reported academic record (Srar) system available to other colleges and universities, rutgers created a spinoff company, Scarlet computing Solutions, llc (ScS) in 2009 to launch StarS (myStarsrecord.com). StarS is a product that makes the college application and review process easier for students who can now self-report their school transcript information, including courses, grades, and summary information such as gpa and rank-in-class. This product also improves the envi-

ronment by elimi-nating costly paper processes. parents and guidance coun-selors no longer have to wonder whether a

transcript was sent and received successfully via postal mail.

admissions application processing and review have been revolutionized by Srar, eliminating tens of thousands of manual transactions.

Development of the Srar began in spring 2008, and went into full production in September 2008 for the 2009 admissions cycle. in the first year of use, rutgers “highly recommended” using the Srar, and over 11,000 Srars were submitted successfully. By year two (2010 cycle), based on the posi-tive results from the previous year, rutgers “required” applicants to use the Srar. to date, there have been over 25,000 received from first-year applicants. an indirect benefit of the program is the ability to reallocate staff previously working on transcript processing to more strategic tasks.

ScS founder, Dr. paul Johnson (rutgers alumnus of rc, gSnB, and gSe), already has

seen many benefits to rutgers for this ven-ture. “Working with other outstanding aca-demic institutions on StarS has significantly improved the product by obtaining excellent recommendations for feature enhancements which benefit rutgers, too. Since we are also learning how to integrate StarS with com-mercial student information systems such as Banner and peopleSoft, rutgers will have in-house expertise on connecting other rutgers data and systems to our forthcoming com-mercial student system, which is currently in the planning\analysis stage.” paul also praises Vice president for enrollment management, courtney mcanuff, as being integral to Srar/StarS success. “courtney has been highly supportive of innovation such as the Srar and has impressed upon enrollment management colleagues at other universities that they, too, can improve their operational efficiency via StarS.”

Srar/StarS is rapidly advancing in technology and spreading in the market. two important initiatives will take place in ay 2010-11. The first is pre-college programs at rutgers, starting with rutgers future Scholars program, will be able to track progress and measure outcomes for their high school students as early as ninth grade with the Srar\StarS. The second initiative is that StarS will support international student (e.g., O-level exams) and transfer student records. two major clients from the Suny system, Binghamton and Stony Brook universities, will be using StarS for this academic year, and other colleges and uni-versities have also expressed interest in the product.

For additional information, please contact SCS at http://mystarsrecord.com/contact_us.html or by phone at 732-964-9040.

Scarlet computing Solutions


Silagene inc. began operations in fy2009 based on an exclusive license to the u1 adaptor technology developed by Samuel gunderson’s team at rutgers university. This brand-new method for silencing genes works via a completely different mechanism from cur-rent techniques. to date, gene “silencing” has been dominated by only a few technologies that are associated with problems of delivery, stability, and immune reactivity. The ability to “switch off” genes in living cells and organisms is indispensable in the discovery of gene func-tions, and has been increasingly recognized as a viable option to treat many genetic diseases. in addition, combining u1 adaptors and rna interference is a potential dual approach which could allow these molecular therapies to work at lower doses.

Silagene, inc.Based in hillsborough, new Jersey,

Silagene received a significant subcontract from integrated Dna technologies (iDt) cor-poration in 2009 to further develop the technology in tissue culture.

in addition, in the Spring of 2010, Dr. gunderson was the first rutgers re-cipient of a $200,000 program award from the university city Science center QeD proof-of-concept program. Of this award, Silagene received $77,000 and business advice for one year. The QeD funding will allow Silagene to do in vivo testing of the u1 adaptor technology to assess its therapeutic potential in two projects – tu-mor suppression and cholesterol reduction.

For more information, visit www.silagene.com.

taXiS pharmaceuticals is focused on the dis-covery and development of pharmaceuticals targeting multidrug-resistant (mDr) bacterial pathogens. formed in march 2009 by scien-tific founders Dr. edmond laVoie of rutgers university, Dr. Daniel pilch of The university of medicine and Dentistry of new Jersey and chief executive Officer, gregory g. mario, the company has identified new classes of pro-prietary antibiotic agents that exploit a novel mechanism of action distinct from any other antibiotic in clinical use today.

The alarming rise in the number of mDr bacterial pathogens that have emerged and spread in recent years has dramatically reduced the utility of the current arsenal of antibiotics. two such mDr pathogens in par-ticular have been recognized as major threats to biodefense and global public health, methi-cillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (mrSa) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (Vre).

The taXiS team has designed and is in the

process of implementing nine unique series of chemical compounds targeting the essential bacterial cell division protein, ftsz. taXiS’ fam-ily of compounds selectively target the ftsz protein, thereby inhibiting ftsz-catalyzed gtp hydrolysis, ftsz polymerization, the formation of ftsz z-rings, and cell division, and ultimate-ly resulting in bacterial cell death.

taxis has several lead compounds in pre-clinical stages of de-velopment, with the goal of identifying good clinical candidates for the treatment of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections in 2011. The company ex-pects its first compound to enter clinical trials in 2012. These agents potentially represent the first transformational innovation in antibiotic technology in more than three decades.

For more information, visit www.taxispharma.com.

taXiS pharmaceuticals



Since its inception in 1998, tyrX sci-entists, engineers and marketers have focused on a singular goal — creating unique, cost-effective solutions that ad-dress surgical-site infections (SSis) and inflammatory tissue-reaction associated with implanted medical devices. tyrX, located in monmouth Junction, new Jersey, is an fDa registered, iSO certified medical device manufacturer of drug-device combination products utilizing novel polymer technology, includ-ing a world-wide license from rutgers which covers a broad range of resorbable materials and drug delivery technology. This technology was based on the research of Dr. Joachim Kohn, Board of governors professor of

chemistry.The com-

pany reached a major implant milestone in fy2010. tyrX announced in June that it had successfully implanted its aigiSrx envelope device in 10,000 patients in the

united States. The aigiSrx envelope is an anti-bacterial mesh technology that securely holds a pacemaker (pm) or implantable cardioverter

tyrX, inc.

defibrillator (icD) in place to create a stable environment, while delivering antimicrobial agents, rifampin and minocycline. These anti-microbial agents have been shown to reduce infections associated with medical devices in multiple randomized controlled trials.

“reaching this 10,000th aigiSrx implant milestone is a remarkable achievement and a testament to our team who has worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to develop this important technology to address a signifi-cant clinical need,” said robert White, tyrX president and ceO. “approximately one out of 50 patients in the u.S. experiences a major infection problem at a cost of approximately $50,000 per patient. The aigiSrx antibacterial envelope provides hospitals and clinicians with a way to improve patient outcomes while re-ducing the corresponding economic burden.”

For more information, visit www.tyrx.com.



established in 2006 with an $18 million grant from the national Science foundation (nSf), the engineering research center for Structured Organic particulate Systems (c-SOpS) gener-ates the science and technology needed to develop and manufac-ture structured organic particulate systems- pharmaceutical dosage forms such as tablets are a key example. While the center’s current focus is on the pharmaceuti-cal industry, results can also be applied to the food, nutraceutical, and consumer products industries among oth-ers. rutgers is the lead institution in the multi-university consortium which includes purdue, new Jersey institute of technology (nJit), and the university of puerto rico-mayaguez. professor fernando muzzio of rutgers serves as the center director.

The center has advanced many aspects of the science and technology necessary for understanding the structure of formulated solid dosage forms and their manufacture. The research program includes controlling how materials are formed, how manufacturing processes can be designed, scaled up and opti-mized, how final products can be characterized and modeled, and most importantly, how all of these can be integrated into a continuous manufacturing system operating in closed loop

Center Profile

The nSf engineering research center for Structured Organic particulate Systems (c-SOpS)

control. an indication of the center’s suc-cess in research is evidenced by the 36 peer reviewed publications last year, in addition to more than 30 other papers, and numer-

ous presentations and posters at national meetings.

close interaction with industry is a de-fining characteristic of c-SOpS. twenty nine companies are cur-rently formal mem-bers of the center; these include end use formulators (phar-maceutical, food, and consumer products companies) and their technology suppliers who provide equip-ment, instruments, and software. This close collaboration between academia

and industry has enabled rapid advancement in relevant science and technology. industrial mentors provide input which accelerates progress, while the end user requirements (voice of the customer) are established at the beginning and revalidated throughout the process. potential commercialization routes and partners are identified early. The success and promise of the center and its industrial partners has been validated by the award of an additional $2 million in nSf funding, specifically to further accelerate the commercialization of center technology.


Engaging Companies in Early Research & Corporate Relationship Development in an effort to expand the relationship of the university with industry, the rutgers university Office of the Vice president for research and graduate and professional education has launched the Office of research alliances (Ora) with the mission of providing a “one-stop concierge service” for industries to engage rutgers’ researchers, centers and ca-pabilities while their research ideas are still be-ing designed and developed. an important step in the conversion of federal & State supported research ideas into commercial products is technology modification for commercial appli-cation, such as sponsored research, small scale animal studies, center memberships & col-laboration, SBir/Sttr grants and other corpo-rate investments into the university. The Ora is a gateway for companies to engage with the university early on in the theoretical stage in relation to technology transfer/licensing.

When companies seek to collaborate with rutgers or utilize rutgers’ facilities, the Ora is your first stop to start the discussion. The Ora serves as part-information center and part-networking hub for companies who wish to engage the university. By working in

Office of research alliances

collaboration with existing offices, the Ora is a single-point of contact within the university, fostering a smooth collaboration between industry and the university offices. as industry shifts into a more Open innovation model, the Ora’s responsibilities are to transform the university into an outsourced, fixed r&D partner. as r&D projects often take time to develop, the Ora is able to assist by creating a pipeline for both industry and Otc to come to the negotiation table.

The Ora is comprised of both scientific experts and seasoned business managers who understand the needs and speak the language of both the rutgers and industry communi-ties. reporting to richard mammone ph.D., the associate Vice president of corporate & Venture alliances, the Ora includes associate Directors Thomas richardson ph.D. and Steven Ortley with varied experience in private and public sector. from drug discovery to clean wind turbines to mobile commerce, their experience in crossing from university to industry will be a valuable resource to rutgers and industry alike. Whether you are a busi-ness leader in the community or a rutgers researcher, the Ora is your new resource to facilitate early discussions about collaboration and sponsored projects.


Intellectual Property Group

rutgers faculty had a very active year in fy2010. The department received 134 new in-vention disclosures from researchers through-out the university, a 60% increase from the previous year. The disclosures were closely split between life sciences (46 percent) and physical sciences/engineering disciplines (41 percent). agriculture technologies accounted for the remaining 13 percent of new inventions.

to better service our faculty clients, Otc created a shortened disclosure form, the notice of invention (nOi), to make the first report of an invention easier for faculty. The form must be submitted to Otc to preserve

proprietary rights prior to discussing the in-vention with others, including those who are interested in possible commercial or sponsored research partnerships, and prior to any “pub-lication” of the invention which might jeopar-dize the university’s ability to obtain a patent on the invention.

as part of the revised invention disclosure process, a more detailed patent disclosure form (pdf) is requested for inventions that have significant commercial potential. in the next fiscal year, the department plans to use an online disclosure form, further streamlining the invention disclosure process.

Disclosure activity

Area # of Disclosures

r life Sciences 61

r physical Sciences / engineering 55

r agriculture / SeBS 18

134

FY10 Invention Disclosures by Area

41% 13%

46%


Intellectual Property Group

Otc’s patent group manages the intellectual property (ip) developed throughout rutgers campuses and in conjunction with collabora-tors outside the university. The majority of Otc’s ip protec tion activity is concentrated on pursuing patents although the department also handles copyrights and trademarks where appropriate.

in fy 2010 there was continued growth in the rutgers patent portfolio. in fy2010, 55 provisional u.S. applications for patents were filed; 45 regular u.S. applications for patents were filed and 26 u.S. plant and utility patents were issued to rutgers.

The office’s overall intellectual property reflects the diversity and innovative research taking place at the university. examples of successfully commercialized rutgers inven-tions come from a variety of areas within the broader classifications of agricultural, life sci-ences, materials sciences and engineering and computer sciences disciplines.

in may 2010, the Biennial patent awards celebration was held to highlight the signifi-cant contributions made by rutgers’ inven-tors in the pursuit of united States patents. The prestigious event was held at president

patenting activity

mccormick’s residence with over 35 honorees in attendance.

The patent group participated in a special Boot camp in September 2009 that was of-fered to faculty, staff and students to educate them on the process involved in obtaining pat-ent protection and exploring the role that an inventor plays in helping secure a patent and commercialize his technology.

in addition to these activities, significant steps were taken in the initial migration to Sophia, a more comprehensive intellectual property database. During fiscal year 2011 we will be fully implementing this web-based system which will make it convenient for in-novators to access and view their intellectual property portfolio from their office, home or anywhere they choose. Simple information requests will be available around the clock. another exciting feature of the system is the ability to enter technology disclosures on-line. This paperless system will streamline the process of submitting new innovations to Otc. Other improvements included updating internal policies and procedures and pursuing a robust legal intern and extern program.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Issued US PatentsRegular Patent ApppsProvisional Patent Apps

FY 10FY 09FY 08FY 07FY 06FY 05FY 04FY 03FY 02FY 01

U.S. Applications Issued and Applications Filed by Fiscal Year r Provisional Patent Applications

r Regular Patent Applications

r Issued US Patents


Corporate Contracts Group

in spite of the prolonged recession, corporate contracts experienced another record year in the number of contractual transactions processed in fiscal year 2010. Building on last year’s record-setting number of 1,013 documents, in the 2010 fiscal year the group processed 1,149 transactions (a 13% increase). corporate funding amounts also increased significantly during the same period. The $18.8 million in funding received in fiscal year 2010 represents a 10.5% increase from fy2009 figures of $17.0 million.

corporate contracts is an integral component of the Office of technology commercialization. The group is responsible for reviewing, drafting, negotiating and signing in-dustrial-sponsored research and service proj-ects. The types of contracts processed by the corporate contracts group includes research, service, collaboration, inter-institutional, master, SBir/Sttr and other special agree-ments. in addition, corporate contracts has the overall responsibility for material transfer and confidentiality agreements regardless of the other contracting entity (non-profit, govern-ment, and for-profit corporations).

a new initiative within the department included the implementation of a fully auto-mated material transfer and confidentiality agreement processing system called echoSign that includes electronic signature capabil-ity. The impetus for this new system was to improve turnaround time.

corporate contracts activitycontract success stories in fiscal year 2010

include: r $1.2mm for continuation of research with a

young materials companyr a $597K subcontract from a nJ-based prime

contractor

r $541K for continuation of research with a small pharmaceutical company

r a $300K aara funded subcontract from a mid-sized high-technology company

r a $236K service agreement with a large utility corporation

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5

10

15

20

25


Do

llar

s (M

illi

on

s)

16.7 17.0

18.9

14.3

20.321.0

24.8

16.117.0

18.8

Corporate Funding by Fiscal Year


Technology Licensing Group

finding a potential licensee for the many technologies Otc receives is one of the most challenging and important tasks we have. The licensing group is responsible not only for reviewing invention disclosures and assisting with patenting decisions but also for identify-ing potential licensees, drafting term sheets and licenses, negotiating options, licenses, and other agreements with qualified candidates and assisting in starting spin-off companies, when appropriate.

a license agreement grants the right to use some of the university’s intellectual property. This is in exchange for the licensee’s commitment to provide the resources required for further development and commercializa-tion of the invention and to pay the university appropriate compensation. Depending on the

technology and its market potential, either an exclusive or a nonexclusive license may be offered. in addition to generating royalty in-come, technology licensing provides university researchers with additional funds for research and development.

in fy 2010, Otc received $8.7 million in licensing revenue, an increase from the $8.1 million received in fy2009. an addi-tional $224,000 in equity was received by the department. There was a significant amount of new licensing activity last year and as a result, 80 licenses, options and comparable agreements were executed in fy2010, a 30% increase from the previous year.

technology licensing

0

20

40

60

80

100


42

1519

25 26

35

72

96

63

82

0

2

4

6

8

10

Equity Holdings License Revenue


$4.8

$0.5

$4.0

$0.6

$5.1$5.4

$2.2

$4.3

$2.2

$5.7

$1.6$1.1

$7.7$8.1 $8.1

$0.5 $0.3 $0.0

$8.7

$0.2

Licenses and Options Executed by Fiscal Year

FY 2010 Licenses and Options Executed by Area

Annual Licensing Revenue and Equity Holdings*

Area # of Agreements

r cranberries 30

r Dogwood-holly 16

r Biomed-pharma 9

r it 6

r Other fruit 5

r energy-environment 4

r materials 4

r misc. 4

r electronics-instruments 2

80

37% 20%

11%

8%6%

5%5%

3%

5%


Department Highlights

Venture Forum/Faculty Fast Pitch Fair as a sequel to the prior year’s entrepreneurship Day, rutgers Otc hosted its first Venture forum/faculty fast pitch fair. Over 30 aca-demic entrepreneurs from the leading nJ research universities ( nJit, princeton, rutgers and the university of medicine and Dentistry) pitched some of the most exciting technolo-gies to investors to obtain early stage fund-ing. technology areas include: Biomedical engineering, tissue engineering, materials Science, pharmacology, Stem cells, computer Science, electrical engineering, physics, chem-ical engineering, nanotechnology and more.

Over 250 attendees heard the wisdom of Keynote speaker mir imran, inventor and entrepreneur, and listened on the panel – What do investors really want? Other high-lights included a talk on small Business innovation and research grants (SBirs) by errol arkilic, ph.D a director at the national Science foundation; and a poster an investor/inventor networking Session.

Venture Eventsin June 2010 Brad feld, a prominent Vc from the Boston-based foundry group came to rutgers to view presentations, demonstrations and laboratory tours for three rutgers profes-sors working in the field of human computer interaction. The event was organized with the help of michael Wiley of the new Jersey economic Development authority. a continu-ing series of venture events are scheduled in the coming year to showcase rutgers start-up companies and most promising technologies and assist them with obtaining early stage funding.

Other venture events were held including a visit by Keg capital who reviewed technolo-gies in a variety of disciplines.

Company VisitsThoroughout the year, Otc hosts company

meetings to showcase a small group of tech-nologies to biotech and pharmaceutical com-panies in the hopes of creating commercializa-tion partnerships. There were numerous visits to and by companies in 2009 including merck, Quest Diagnostics, roche, teva, Jerini, provid, J&J, genzyme, pfizer, Sp. novonordisk, BmS, and novartis to name a few.

Rutgers University Technology Commercialization Fund (RU TCF)in partnership with Johnson and Johnson, The rutgers university technology commercialization fund was created to advance the commercial potential of rutgers technology. The goal of the fund is to make it more likely that rutgers inventions will be licensed to existing companies or serve as the basis for new companies funded by equity investors or SBir funds. The technology commercialization fund attempts to bridge the “valley of death” for technologies where research funding ends but the technology has not proven its value for commercialization.

in fy2010, 11 inventors had projects fund-ed. grants with direct costs of up to $50,000 were awarded for each qualified project to be used within a period of six months from the date of the award. a total of $410,000 was awarded last year.

Collaboration with NJ and National AssociationsOtc team members collaborate with many dif-ferent local and regional accociations includ-ing the new Jersey economic Development authority (nJeDa), nJ Jumpstart, BionJ, the r&D council of nJ, Bio international, and the association of university technology managers (autm). members also attend in-dustry events to showcase our technologies and to gain valuable insight into ways rutgers can increase its partnership with businesses throughout the country.


About the Office of Technology Commercialization

every day students and faculty at rutgers, The State university of new Jersey are creating new discoveries and technology in numerous disciplines including agriculture, engineering, computing, physical sciences, energy, life sciences and pharmaceuticals. The Office of technology commercialization (Otc) turns rutgers academic discoveries into commercial successes.

Our offices serves as a bridge between rutgers researchers and commercializa-tion partners, ensuring the smooth and fast transfer of intellectual property created at the university. During the commercialization process, we provide patenting, marketing, licensing, start-up company formation and other commercialization support to our stu-dent and faculty researchers at three cam-puses throughout new Jersey. Our industrial agreements area, a unit within Otc, is responsible for reviewing, drafting, negotiat-ing and signing industry sponsored contracts of many types.

Who is the Otc?Specifically, we:r negotiate research contracts, patent licenses

and various other types of agreements r transfer the inventions of rutgers faculty

into practical applications, via licenses and start-up companies so that they benefit so-ciety on a local, national and global basis

r protect intellectual property via trademarks, copyrights and patents

r market technologies to companies, entrepre-neurs and investors via numerous channels

r assist in start-up company creationr educate and serve as a resource for the

rutgers community on matters relating to intellectual property, technology commer-cialization and entrepreneurship.

in pursuit of our objectives, rutgers, the flagship comprehensive public research university, has maintained an active industrial agreements, patenting and technology com-mercialization program for over 20 years. meet our team members below.


OTC Director:executive Director - Dipanjan Nag w Office manager - Katie Alter 5

OTC Operations:Director of Operations - Andrew Wooten -

New Ventures:Director - Yair Harel r

Physical Sciences and Engineering Technologies:assistant Director – Rick Smith 0

Biomedical Technologies:assistant Director - Shrijay Vijayan 9 licensing and Business Development manager - Reza Razavi*

going forward there are several new initia-tives in the works at Otc which will benefit the faculty and the rutgers community at large. as mentioned previously, during fiscal year 2011 we will be fully implementing the new intellec-tual property database, Sophia by Wellspring.

also in progress is an initiative to improve the technology marketing process by imple-menting two new tools. The first tool is a new competetive intelligence search engine for generating marketing leads called zoominfo. Salesforce.com, a well known web-based customer relationship management (crm) system, is the second tool. Sales force assists in managing customer interactions from the initial lead through the close of a transac-tion. together these systems will facilitate an industrial-strength marketing program.

to assist in the identification of commer-cially viable technologies, Otc will be institut-

a look ahead

Agriculture/SEBS/NJAES Technologies:assistant Director, licensing & technology, SeBS - Leon Segal 2 administrative assistant - Patricia Bzdek*

Industrial Agreements:associate Director - Charles Wyckoff 7 contract manager - Thomas Zambito q contract grant assistant - Marian Monahan 6 contract negotiator - Melissa Matsil 1

Marketing and Communications:marketing - Lori Dars 4

Patents/Intellectual Property:intellectual property manager - Dorian Grumet* intellectual property manager - Cindy Hanna e interns – Jonathan Kwok3 and Michael D’Ecclessis*

Business Administration for OVPR:executive Director of Business administration -

Heidi Szymanski* accountant - Wael Hanna 8 assistant – Sajel Patel =

*- Not available for photograph

ing two industrial review boards, one for life sciences and one for physical sciences. These boards consist of respected leaders in a broad cross-section of industries which correlate with rutgers’ research competencies. in addi-tion to valuable input, they are also a wonder-ful source of contacts for commercial partners.

as a service to rutgers and of benefit to Otc, we are placing more emphasis on the student internship programs. We are making use of students across the disciplines of law, business and science to assist in many facets of Otc’s everyday activities. These students gain real-world experience in their specialties which can be invaluable in the competitive job markets. Students assist Otc professionals in projects including technology assessments, intellectual property protection, contract ne-gotiations, marketing, licensing, new venture creation and systems integration.

About the Office of Technology Commercialization

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Office of technology commmercialization rutgers, The State university of new Jersey aSB iii, 3 rutgers plaza new Brunswick, new Jersey 08901Office: 732 932 0115 fax: 732 932 0146 http://otc.rutgers.edu

report credits:editor: Lori Darscontributing Writer: Michael D’Ecclessis (ph.D. 2013)photography (pages 2 and 22): Jennifer Miguel-Hellman (class of 2012)Design: Bruce Colthart Creative LLC

OTC_Annual_Report_2010

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