California Biomedical Industry - California Healthcare Institute

California NIH Funded Research and InnovationUniversity of CaliforniaPartnering with NIH to advance medical science and improve healthcareUC: An economic engineand innovator in California• UC research has been essentialto the development of many ofCalifornia’s leading industries—from biotechnology to informationtechnology to telecommunications.• Nearly 400,000 jobs in Californiadepend on UC operations. Thatincludes non-university jobs thatuniversity expenditures create.• UC contributes more than $14billion in California economicactivity and more than $4 billion instate and local tax revenues eachyear.• More than 1,000 California biotech,high-tech and other innovativeR&D-intensive companies put UCresearch to work every day.• One-third of California’s biotechfirms were founded by UCscientists, and one-fourth ofbiotech firms in the U.S. are within35 miles of a UC campus.• UC researchers produce, onaverage, four new inventions a day,and UC develops more patentsthan any other university in thenation.William Tucker, executive director ofInnovation Alliances and Services atthe UC Office of the President, states,“NIH’s commitment to basic life scienceresearch at universities over the past30 years, combined with the ability ofuniversities to patent and license relatedinventions, has resulted in the U.S.creating and leading the biotechnologyindustry. We are pleased that theObama administration has publiclyrecognized the importance of, and isactively looking for ways to enhancethe impact of federally-funded researchon the nation’s technology-drivenbusiness sectors, such as the biomedicalindustry.”UC researchers garnered more than$1.95 billion in NIH funding in 2009-10, accounting for 43 percent of UC’stotal research budget. UC sciencetouches our daily lives, allowingphysicians to identify medicalconditions early and provide hope forsignificant medical challenges.They include:••Artificial lung surfactant, whichallows premature infants to breathe••Herceptin to treat breast cancer••The nicotine patch for smokingcessation••A catheter to treat aneurysms••A chochlear implant to help the deafunderstand normal speech••Hepatitis B vaccine••MRI and PET technology to detectdiseaseIn addition to these advances, UChas untangled the building blocksof many complicated diseases, fromAIDS and Alzheimer’s to cancer andcardiovascular conditions.Among important discoveries by NIHfundedUC researchers:••Proto-oncogenes, or normal genesthat have the potential to convertto cancer genes. The discoverytransformed the way that scientistslook at cancer and is leading tonew strategies for detection andtreatment.••The prion, an infectiouspathogen that causes certain fatalneurodegenerative diseases, such asbovine spongiform encephalopathy,commonly known as mad-cowdisease. This discovery could provideinsights into the prevention ofAlzheimer’s disease.••Telomerase, an enzyme that playsa key role in normal cell function.The discovery provides a new targetfor treating age-related diseases andcancer and for measuring the impactof stress on cells.••Insight into HIV. UC researcherswere the first to identify and describeHIV, a watershed discovery in AIDSresearch.Funding from NIH also supports thelocal and regional economy that it fuelsvia the patents and scientific advancesthe research generates and the relatedindustries, such as biotechnology.Top five products based on UCtechnology by revenue for FY2009($M)Hepatitis-B vaccine $15.909Treatment of intracranial aneurysms $11.427Interstitial cystitis therapy $8.723EGF receptor antibodies $5.947Bovine growth hormone $5.488UC inventionsInventiondisclosuresU.S.patentsissuedTotal UCU.S. patentportfolio2005 1,304 310 3,2752006 1,308 270 3,3162007 1,411 331 3,4252008 1,497 224 3,5462009 1,482 244 3,617Start-up companies formed with UCtechnologiesNumber of UC start-ups2005 232006 422007 412008 482009 47Overall, 461 start-up companieshave been formed with UC campusinventions since 1976.California Biomedical Industry 2011 Report | 71