Technology Transfer News: Statewide Technology Acceleration

Written by Mike Roof , Chief Technology Officer, Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics platform, Iowa State University

The Vaccines and Immunotherapeutic (V&I) Bioscience Platform is focused on accelerating technology development within the State of Iowa. Our priorities include increased licensure, accelerated commercialization, and job creation for the industry.

Many of our companies are based on technology developed at the university level and include founders who have faculty-based careers. It is not surprising that many of these startups have extremely high competency in the technical aspects of these new companies. It is also not a surprise that there is often limited knowledge and gaps in these groups' regulatory, manufacturing, and commercialization aspects as they pursue commercialization.

The V&I Bioscience platform supports these efforts by leveraging the extensive training opportunities provided by the ISU Pappajohn Center and supporting this with customized commercial advisory team (CAT) efforts.

ISU ICORP is a program focusing on customer discovery to support the transition of ideas, devices, processes, or intellectual property into the marketplace.?

CyStarters is an accelerator program focusing on educational sessions on customer discovery, marketing, entrepreneurial finance, and more. This competitive selection process includes $6,500 - $13,000 in funding.

The ISU Startup Factory is a startup incubator helping researchers and inventors develop a roadmap to realize their high-tech innovations' societal and economic impact. We aim to help innovators and founders move from “tech-speak” to “business-speak.”

The curriculum includes workshops and group discussions on:?

• The importance of self-awareness and strong communication skills as an innovator in team member selection and interaction
• How to protect intellectual property
• Talking to, and learning from, potential customers
• Appropriate business models for commercializing the technology
• The importance of a clear vision, mission, and values
• How to create credible financial reports
• How to present your business for maximum impact
• How to identify critical elements of your business and create a?commercialization?plan?

Iowa G2M is a program to accelerate your marketing effort and commercialization. They use a team-based format to continue building and filling in the gaps to move the business forward. Iowa G2M Accelerator program provides resources, connections, and guidance to ensure a business is heading in the right direction and getting to market faster.

Vaccine, Diagnostic, and Immunotherapeutic Commercial Advisory Team (VDI- CAT) is a customized consulting and advisory group providing industry-specific expertise, advanced commercial advice, and mentoring. We bring experts from venture capital, regulatory (FDA/USDA), manufacturing, legal, and technical to assess your company business plan and help find expertise and pathways to move forward accelerated and efficiently. Contact [email protected] if your company would benefit from a VDI-CAT meeting and commercial assessment.

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