PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 3, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The founding members of the Nanotechnology Institute(tm) (NTI) (www.nanotechinstitute.org) -- Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) -- have agreed to create a Nanotechnology Commercialization Group, funded by the Nanotechnology Institute, to facilitate the commercialization of intellectual property discoveries by NTI-member institutions.
The agreement funds the creation of the Nanotechnology Commercialization Group (NCG) that will operate as a separate new unit with a three-member professional staff comprised of both Penn and Drexel personnel that will be located in Penn's Technology Transfer offices. The NCG will provide commercialization services to NTI-member institutions through an Inter-Institutional Agreement with Penn for all nanotechnology patents and patent applications including, but not limited to, those arising from NTI-funded research. Such services may include evaluating the IP for commercial potential, devising a commercialization strategy, marketing the IP, facilitating the formation of a start-up company, and or negotiating licenses on behalf of the IP owners and participating institutions.
The agreement also establishes a Nanotechnology Proof of Concept Seed Fund (PoC Fund) through the NTI. The PoC Fund will support the costs of projects recommended by the NCG and approved by the PoC Fund Review Committee which will be comprised of internal and external reviewers.
Representatives of Drexel, Penn and BFTP/SEP said they expect the new partnership to greatly enhance the capabilities of the NTI (www.nanotechinstitute.org) to facilitate commercialization of nanotechnology's real-world applications into the marketplace.
"The Nanotechnology Commercialization Group builds on the inherent strengths of each of its partners, which alone have already made great strides toward commercializing nano-scale scientific research," said Perry Molinoff, M.D., Vice Provost for Research, University of Pennsylvania. "Nanotechnology has proven to be more than a buzzword for a passing trend. We now have the tools and talents to manipulate materials on the molecular scale, a technology with the potential to transform consumer, technical and health-product industries."
Bill Stephenson, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research and Dean for Graduate Policy, Drexel University said, "This new partnership will have a major impact on our ability to bring nano-science to commercial reality quickly. The partnership is also an experiment in shared resources. If this works as well as we expect, it may suggest the further expansion of such cooperation to the benefit of many of Philadelphia's technology-based institutions."
RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of BFTP/SEP, said "These new components of the Nanotechnology Institute(tm) continue the pattern of innovative, collaborative approaches to drive technology development and commercialization that have become the hallmark of the Nanotechnology Institute(tm) and that have established it as a national model."
Penn and Drexel -- two of the nation's leading academic and research universities -- and BFTP/SEP, a national leader in technology-based economic development, founded the Nanotechnology Institute(tm) four years ago with seed capital from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Nanotechnology Institute(tm) -- an alliance of business, academic and government -- is facilitating the research, development and commercialization of bio-nanotechnology advances. It is helping position the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a hotbed both for emerging new nanotechnology enterprises and for future growth of established industries through a technology that is having transformative impact across many sectors. Within a decade, global sales of products embodying nanotechnology innovations could top $2.5 trillion, according to the United States Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
About Drexel University
Drexel University is nationally renowned for innovation and the use of cutting-edge technology in research and education. The Princeton Review and Forbes.com included Drexel in their list of America's 25 most entrepreneurial universities. Drexel is ranked among the best national doctoral universities by U.S. News & World Report. Drexel's A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute (DNI) coordinates and develops efforts at Drexel in the broad and interdisciplinary area of nano-scale science and engineering. Research in the medical applications of bionanotechnology is a significant area of collaboration among faculty in Drexel's School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences and Drexel University College of Medicine. DNI and The Materials and Nanotechnology Consortium at Drexel provide faculty with state-of-the-art equipment and invite companies from across the country to benefit from Drexel's world-class materials characterization facilities and collaborations with its outstanding faculty.
About the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is an Ivy League institution that has served as a model for research colleges and universities throughout the world. Penn has also been at the forefront of the study of nano-scale systems, drawing together faculty from across campus and across research disciplines. Its facilities, designed to support multidisciplinary studies, include the Penn Regional Nanotechnology Facility, which is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation to serve as a hub for materials research, the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, which studies fundamental aspects of materials science, and the Nano-Bio Interface Center, which explores the science, technology, and ethics of nano-scale medical research.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Since 1982, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) has helped grow the region through science, technology and entrepreneurship. Part of a state-wide network in Pennsylvania, BFTP/SEP provides entrepreneurs and established businesses the capital, knowledge and networks they need to compete successfully in the global marketplace. The organization has provided more than $110 million to over 1,400 regional enterprises through various funding means. BFTP/SEP is a founding partner of the Nanotechnology Institute(tm) (NTI) and the Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Alliance (MANA(r)) and is funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development.