The secret to forming start-ups
BY Ajay Singh
Today Staff Writer
Leonard H. Rome wears many hats. Besides being senior associate dean of research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, he is also associate vice chancellor for research for the life and health sciences, a professor of biological chemistry, and the head of a research team at the California NanoSystems Institute — itself a joint enterprise between UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.
Having so many professional commitments can cause conflicts of interest — but “faculty should be involved in conflicts of interest — that is a good thing,” Rome told an audience of about 100 people at the 1st Annual UCLA Life Sciences Startup Bootcamp, held Feb. 15 at the Faculty Center. The key is to manage them, he explained.
Sponsored by UCLA’s Office of Intellectual Property Administration (OIPA), the David Geffen School of Medicine, and Research Corporation Technologies (RCT), a company that invests in early-stage biomedical technologies, the inaugural conference offered useful tips to faculty, students, inventors and investors on forming start-ups in the life sciences.
“Twenty or 30 years ago, faculty were primarily engaged in basic science and the promotion of knowledge,” said Kathryn Atchison, interim vice provost of Intellectual Property and Industry Relations, in her welcome address. But these days, she added, “faculty are becoming more entrepreneurial — and we strongly encourage them to work with the School of Medicine to commercialize technology.”
Of the numerous start-up successes in the life sciences, RCT has helped launch at least two dozen, said Paul Grand, the company’s director for the Pacific Coast. RCT has more than $300 million available for investment in early-stage biomedical technologies, he added.
One of the start-ups it has funded is Kerberos Proximal Solutions, formed in 2001 by three Stanford graduate students who hit upon a novel solution to an unmet medical need in a biodesign graduate class.
The trio invented a hand-held device, the “rinspiration system,” which breaks up blood clots and sucks out debris from them — a boon for coronary heart disease patients. RCT met the inventors through a Stanford professor and helped them form a business plan, replete with clinical trials. Within two years, the fledgling company attracted $19 million in funding.
“Generally, the only way start-ups are successful is when there is a strong champion behind them,” said Grand, adding that investors view as “a real benefit” an inventor’s commitment to seeing his or her invention commercialized.
Funding is also available from UC Discovery Grants in five fields: biotechnology, communications and networking, digital media, electronics manufacturing and new materials, and information technology for life sciences. The grants provide matching funds for cooperative research between California-based businesses engaged in research and development, and any of the 10 UC campuses, the three UC-run national labs and the Agricultural Exper-
iment Station.
While a strong business approach is important for a project’s success, “you also need someone who understands the science,” said Warren Grundfest, a UCLA professor of bioengineering and electrical engineering who has founded several medical device start-ups with funding from angel investors. “We went to 20 different venture capitalists and were shown the door in each case,” he said.
George Abe, business development manager at the Office of Research Administration-OIPA, warned against being too focused on chasing funds at the expense of a sound business plan. At the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where Abe teaches, “We’re very proud of the quality of the business plans we write,” he said. “And these are available to students and faculty.”
For more information about starting a company, go to www.research.ucla.edu/OIPA.
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