Tuesday, December 21, 2010

UMass ranks 8th among U.S. universities for 2009 tech income

By State House News Service

A new report ranks the University of Massachusetts eighth in the country in generating income in 2009 from the licensing of faculty-produced discoveries and products, beating out both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The UMass system generated more than $70.5 million in “technology transfer income” in 2009 from 50 technology licenses and one start-up company founded through university research, according to the Association of University Technology Managers. MIT ranked ninth nationally and Harvard placed 27th, rounding out the only three Massachusetts schools to crack the top 30.

UMass’s revenue from technology transfers and intellectual property rights increased substantially in one year, nearly doubling from the $37 million generated in fiscal 2008 when the university first cracked the list’s top 15 schools. The growth is attributable to a $30 million upfront payment Merck & Co., Inc., as a result of the licensing of a human monoclonal antibody combination for clostridium difficile infection.

Northwestern University topped the list with $161 million in licensing income.

Editor's Note: The report refers to income generated for the university in 2009. A previous version of the article may not have clarified that the numbers refer to 2009, rather than overall income.