Nationwide Children's Hospital made more than triple the revenue from licensing its discoveries as the next-highest earner among Ohio research institutions in 2020, despite the absence of a one-time payout that made for a record $37 million the year before.
Ohio State University and Cleveland Clinic, meanwhile, remained close to each other in the next-highest spots after both also saw year-over-year declines, according to the latest annual survey data from the tech transfer trade group AUTM.
Meanwhile, Ohio University saw the final year of benefit from a drug to treat a form of gigantism as its licensing deal expired. It sold a portion of the rights for a lump sum in 2011, and over the years the Athens-based school put millions from the discovery into an endowment to advance research and innovation.
The 2019 results were delayed until this spring because of the coronavirus pandemic, but AUTM returned to the usual November release date for 2020 figures.
Columbus-based Children's first participated in the survey for 2015, after building its commercialization program for a decade. It quickly rocketed to among the top earners in the country with a number of spinoffs and licensing deals, including gene therapy startups that went public or were acquired. Ohio State shared in some of those deals because of joint faculty appointments and research collaborations.
That has led to significant economic development in Central Ohio, including spinoff Andelyn Biosciences Inc. building a $200 million genetic material manufacturing facility on Ohio State's west campus and attracting to Columbus the main R&D center for Boston biotech Sarepta Therapeutics after it acquired a Children's spinoff.
With nearly $1 billion in annual research expenditures – by far the highest in the state – Ohio State has renewed emphasis on translating discoveries into real-world benefits under President Kristina Johnson.
Ohio State often leads in leading indicators of commercialization activity: Despite the coronavirus pandemic delaying some research grants, the 367 new invention disclosures in the year were more than double any other state institution. Such disclosures are made when a faculty or staff member first approaches the administration to start the process toward patenting and licensing an invention. Ohio State has nearly 100 operating spinoff companies.
Following acquisitions, both Ohio State and Children's have a single active license generating more than $1 million. The university had four and the pediatric hospital had three for the 2019 AUTM survey.
Cleveland Clinic, once the tech transfer leader in the state, saw its lowest income in 11 years since a high point of $35.5 million in 2010. For much of that, income fluctuated from $10 million to the mid-teens annually, with a $27 million spike in 2015, depending on the pace of spinoff acquisitions.
Meanwhile, University Hospitals of Cleveland in its third year in the AUTM survey rocketed past $1 million in licensing revenue for the first time in 2020, up from $82,000 the prior year and some $200,000 in 2018.
A single license to an outside company for a blockbuster product, such as a drug to a pharmaceutical maker, can produce several years of sustained income, but eventually patents expire. Institutions reinvest the proceeds into more research and resources to help develop technology to make it more marketable to outside investors.
Annual income, prone to "lumpiness" because of one-time events, is just one of many measures to judge the success of a technology commercialization program, AUTM CEO Stephen Susalka told Columbus Business First for a story this past spring.
“This is not about chasing money; this is about chasing products and services,” he said.
