University of Arkansas Research Means Business

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Inventions developed by University of Arkansas researchers have resulted in the creation of 20 new Arkansas businesses since 1990. The oldest of these, Challenge Environmental Systems of Springdale, licenses technology developed and patented in conjunction with the university and has been an industry leader for 20 years. Two of the newest are the start-up companies Nutraceutical Innovations LLC, started in 2008 to produce nutritional products, and Arkansas BioSciences International LLC, begun in 2009 to develop new vaccines. Both companies are licensed by the university to use inventions based on university research, and both are close to putting products on the market.

“This is clear evidence of the way the research conducted here at the University of Arkansas benefits the people of the state,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “Our goal is to help our researchers move the technology and inventions they develop from the lab to Arkansas businesses and from there to the markets of the world. We are making obvious progress achieving that goal.”

In fiscal year 2008 researchers at the University of Arkansas were responsible for eight new patent applications, four new patents being issued and nine licensing agreements allowing companies to use university inventions, in addition to the one start-up business. In all the licenses earned $302,536, divided between the university and the researchers. The university used its portion of the license income to pay the costs for new patent and licensing processes, with more than 60 percent of its ongoing patent costs being reimbursed by companies having licensed various technologies. The University of Arkansas spent a total of $110.8 million on research in fiscal year 2008.

Despite a weak economy nationally, fiscal year 2009 was an even stronger year for research at the university: Spending was up by more than $3 million; the number of issued patents doubled; there were another eight patent applications and another nine licenses signed, all in addition to the new business. The university earned $440,204 from its license agreements, with researchers receiving $115,484 of those funds.

“Growing a new business based on scientific research is a long, slow process, not unlike starting an orchard,” said Collis Geren, vice provost for research. “It’s a major investment of time, work and money, but when it finally bears fruit that investment really pays off.”

The university’s Technology Licensing Office, a part of the office of the vice provost for research, plays a key role in helping researchers move their discoveries from the lab to the marketplace. The office also works in cooperation with the Office of Research Support and Sponsored Programs and the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation.

The technology licensing office helps university researchers identify technology that can be patented and licensed, facilitates the long, complex and expensive patenting process, and then works to help researchers develop companies, or find existing companies, to license the new inventions and turn them into marketable products.

Throughout this marketing process the office also works to benefit the university, primarily by generating licensing fees, facilitating sponsored research and developing relationships between the university and businesses in Arkansas and the world. When a new business starts in Arkansas it often means jobs for university graduates in these high-tech companies.

Calvin Goforth is president of Virtual Incubation Co., a private technology venture development firm based at the University of Arkansas Research and Technology Park. Virtual Incubation presently has a portfolio of 12 start-up companies, including Nutraceutical Innovations, and Goforth has extensive experience licensing technology from many major universities. He says he is impressed with the job the University of Arkansas’ technology licensing office is doing.

“The quality of their team is at least as good as any we’ve worked with,” said Goforth. “They provide a wide range of experience – legal, technical and entrepreneurial – and they have a vision of what needs to be done to fulfill the potential of a new technology. They are concerned not only with generating immediate revenue for the university, they realize how important these start-up companies will be to the future of the Arkansas economy.”

The technology licensing office has a variety of ways to help bring an invention from the lab to market. One particularly promising method makes use of marketing resources in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. The office developed a streamlined optioning process for teams of students in the Walton College Master of Business Administration program. The office provides the inventions, and the students develop the business plans to move the inventions to market.

These are much more than academic exercises. In fiscal year 2009, two teams that optioned university technologies developed promising business plans and performed very well in national competitions. Ground Up Biosolutions used university technology that creates a low-cost, environmentally friendly fertilizer from farm and municipal byproducts; meanwhile, Silicon Solar Solutions licensed several university technologies that could improve the conversion efficiencies of solar panels by 15 percent or more. These teams are continuing to seek commercial opportunities in Arkansas, and could become the next start-up companies to grow from university research.