Introduction
The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) VU&VUmc is a relatively young organization, founded in 2006; in this short time it can already look back at being instrumental in bringing a broad range of opportunities to the market. This applies to topics in ICT, energy and the environment, and in life sciences, health promotion and health care management. Each year, several spin-outs are founded, between 10 and 20 patents are filed, and multiple research collaboration deals are made with industry and other users.
TTO VU & VUmc ’s activities reflect the changing role of universities in present society. Just a few years ago, the main goals of the university were to produce an environment in which research and teaching could thrive, and state-of-the art health care could develop in its medical center. Bringing innovation to the market-place and society has now become an important additional goal, and fostering knowledge and technology transfer are integral parts of the VU and VUmc’s ambitions. TTO VU & VUmc functions as an institutional entrepreneur, and manages the intellectual property portfolio. It also sets up spin-off companies and performs contract negotiations for university-industry collaborations, and its personnel is a mixture of business developers and legal and patent experts.
In the life sciences sector, TTO participated in founding the Amsterdam BioMedCluster (www.amsterdambiomed.nl), and played a leading role in establishing the Life Sciences Center Amsterdam (LSCA). This organization connects the TTOs from all the research institutes and universities in Amsterdam, i.e., the Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam (AMC), the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Sanquin, the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (NKI-AvL), and the VU University & VU University medical centre itself. These institutions work closely together in bringing their collective assets to biotech and pharma. The LSCA organizes industry days to facilitate access to its expertise centers, spin-offs and technology platforms, and is the point of entry to innovative products, technologies and data bases from all participants.
There is just one term that should guide us in the future--- “global competition”. Just about every knowledge-rich region in the USA, Canada and England and most European countries has invested heavily in knowledge transfer as an economic development strategy. South-East Asia and Eastern Europe as well as South America are following the trend. Universities and medical schools and research institutes everywhere work effectively in public-private partnerships with regional and state government agencies to market their scientific expertise, and industry knows how to find them.
To make sure industry also considers VU and VUmc as a rich source of innovation, we actively foster partnerships between companies and universities and public institutions. We as TTO need to provide the best supportive structure to manage these partnerships, and convince public and private partners that our collective scientific innovation indeed finds its way to patients and society. In the following pages you will find an overview of all our resources.
