Imprimir Republish

Innovation

The challenge of translating university knowledge to market success

Active sourcing for companies and marketing strategies help foster partnerships

Mayara Ferrão

Two decades after Brazil’s Innovation Act was introduced to bridge the gap between academic research and industry, transferring research outcomes to market applications remains a persistent challenge. In 2023, only 23.8% of 130 Technology Innovation Centers (NITs), representing 146 research institutions across the country, successfully signed new licensing contracts. NITs are specialized offices tasked with securing intellectual property protection for academic inventions and licensing them for commercial use.

A report by the National Forum of Innovation and Technology Transfer Managers (FORTEC), released in November, underscores the persistent difficulty in transforming intellectual property from research institutions into market-ready products or businesses. The report’s eighth edition identifies several key obstacles, including “limited infrastructure, a shortage of people skilled in negotiation and technology transfer, and difficulties in establishing strategic partnerships with industry.” Revenue from active licenses has also declined steeply, dropping from R$48 million in 2021 to R$32 million in 2023, though the previous study included data from a larger pool of 186 institutions.

Despite these obstacles, NITs have made notable progress in intellectual property protection. Of the 3,086 invention disclosures submitted by researchers in 2023, 85.1% resulted in patent filings, software registrations, plant variety protections, or similar outcomes.

Ana Torkomian, a professor of production engineering at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and vice president of FORTEC, who led the survey, explains that less mature NITs are more likely to focus efforts on intellectual property protection. This is largely because, before the passage of Brazil’s Innovation Act, academia lacked a robust culture of protecting inventions, leaving NITs to lay the groundwork.

“Comparing centers with active licensing agreements in 2023 to those without them reveals that the former have typically been in operation for an average of 16.7 years, compared to 12 years for the latter. More mature centers are more likely to have shifted their focus to technology transfer,” Torkomian observes. NITs with active contracts were also found to employ three times more full-time staff on average (15.6 versus 5.7) and maintained over twice as many active intellectual property protections. “If we want stronger NITs, we need time for learning and capacity building, and our research needs to generate an attractive intellectual property portfolio,” she notes.

As NITs grow more established, targeted strategies can help accelerate knowledge transfer to the market. These include identifying and reaching out to companies potentially interested in specific technologies or in research capabilities for collaborative development. A qualitative study conducted in Brazil’s South and Southeast regions explored these strategies by visiting and interviewing NIT managers. The research, carried out by a team of scientists from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), was published in the February 2024 issue of Innovation & Management Review.

“Having a catalog of available technologies on a website is just the starting point. You also need to prospect for companies that might value a particular invention or research expertise, develop a strong marketing plan, and be responsive to market needs,” explains Karin Goebel, a pharmaceutical engineer and the lead author of the paper.

These were some of the findings from Goebel’s doctoral research between 2019 and 2021, which she recently defended in 2024 at FIOCRUZ-Paraná, where she works as an innovation management analyst. The study found that institutions with proactive technology licensing strategies consistently outperformed others, achieving higher numbers of contracts and greater revenue. Among the most successful institutions are the University of São Paulo (USP), the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), São Paulo State University (UNESP), and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Conversely, institutions with less successful approaches included the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR), and FIOCRUZ-Paraná.

Mayara Ferrão
Key strategies reported include contacting potential partners via email and by phone; attending events to network; analyzing market trends and product launch scenarios; developing communication and marketing plans to showcase inventions and research capabilities; and creating platforms to connect universities with industry.

At the University of São Paulo (USP), one approach taken has been to establish collaborative agreements where companies codevelop technologies with the university and then secure preemptive and exclusive licensing rights to monetize the resulting innovations. “These agreements enable direct technology transfer and significantly shorten time to market,” explains Flávia Oliveira do Prado Vicentin of USP’s Innovation Agency, who manages technology transfer strategies for the Ribeirão Preto and Bauru campuses in São Paulo.

A notable success from this model is a cannabidiol-based pharmaceutical product developed through a collaboration between the Ribeirão Preto Medical School and pharmaceutical company Prati-Donaduzzi. The product was launched in pharmacies across Brazil in May 2020 and is available by medical prescription for conditions such as epilepsy and psychiatric disorders.

At the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), patents are used as a gateway to showcase researchers’ expertise to the market. “We present the technology to a company, and even if they don’t express interest in that specific invention, we use the opportunity to explore the company’s needs,” says Frank Gomes, who heads the strategic alliances team at UFMG’s Technology Transfer and Innovation Office (CTIT). When an innovation has potential public appeal, UFMG’s press office steps in to advertise it through media outlets. For instance, a low-cost device designed to reduce airborne microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, and fungi was featured in a news story on Rede Globo’s G1 portal. “Since it was during the pandemic in 2021, the news gained significant traction. A company saw the article, contacted us, and we licensed the innovation,” Gomes recalls.

At UNESP, dedicated staff build connections with industry by hosting meetings and attending trade fairs. The university also engages in collaborative projects with the private sector and has hired a journalist to publicize its portfolio. “These initiatives provide an opportunity for direct contact with potential partners and allow us to adapt technologies to market requirements,” explains Marcelo Ornaghi Orlandi, an advisor at the UNESP Innovation Agency.

UNICAMP’s Innovation Agency similarly invests in promoting its technologies as one of its strategies. It also integrates technology transfer activities with communication efforts. “We are constantly cataloging our technologies’ capabilities and the expertise of our researchers, making it easier to connect the university’s offerings with specific market needs,” notes Renato Lopes, executive director at Inova UNICAMP. The agency has also introduced special events, competitions, and entrepreneurship courses into the academic curriculum, encouraging students and researchers to establish their own spinoffs and startups—another pathway to monetizing the university’s research.

A case in point is BF3 Medical, an academic spin-off that leveraged intellectual property developed within the university. Founded by three UNICAMP professors based on their own research, the startup produces custom titanium implants for cranial deformities. These implants are designed based on CT scans and fabricated using 3D printers, allowing for better precision in surgical procedures. “Creating an entrepreneurial culture is important, particularly for cutting-edge technologies that are harder to license due to their high risks, greater resource requirements, and longer development times,” notes Karin Goebel.

Marcelo Pinho, an economist at UFSCar’s Department of Production Engineering, who was not involved in the study, says that while the proactive efforts of NITs are valuable, technology transfer is just one way research institutions can connect with industry. He notes that the Innovation Act was later amended by the 2016 Innovation Framework to expand the mandate of NITs to include “promoting and facilitating engagement between science and technology institutions (ICTs) and industry.” Pinho also underscores that innovation in Brazil—unlike in many other countries where it is primarily driven by private enterprises—relies heavily on universities, complicating the process. “Innovation is not a linear process, and we need to go beyond a supply-side approach. It’s unrealistic to expect universities to develop innovations that companies then merely fine-tune and monetize. Researchers need to build stronger, long-term, and ongoing collaborations with industry,” he argues.

The story above was published with the title “Bridging research and industry” in issue 346 of December/2024.

Scientific article
GOEBEL, K. et al. Offering technologies for innovation: Strategies and challenges. Innovation & Management Review. Vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 44–59. Feb. 2024.

Republish