Tuesday, December 21, 2010

MGH, Children's Hospital among leaders in licensing revenue

By James M. Connolly

While the University of Massachusetts, MIT and Harvard University were among the leading colleges in terms of technology transfer-based revenue in 2009, Massachusetts health institutions also scored well when it came to tech transfer revenue.

Massachusetts General Hospital, with $432.9 million in tech transfer income, placed second among U.S. hospitals behind the Los Angeles-area City of Hope and Beckman Research Institute on the list compiled by the Association of University Technology Managers. Children’s Hospital Boston placed fifth on that list with $36.5 million in income.

AUTM’s annual ranking of institutional tech transfer revenue is based on a survey in which organizations disclose their license income from their intellectual property. AUTM said that 179 institutions reported total license income of $2.3 billion in license income and 3,417 patents granted in 2009. AUTM said that organizations responding to its survey reported 658 new commercial products introduced and 5,328 total license and options executed, 596 new companies formed and 3,423 startup companies still operating as of the end of FY2009. The number of licenses executed in 2009 grew slightly from 2008 to 2009, while total license income declined 32.5 percent, largely because the 2008 figure was influenced by one-time legal settlements totaling more than $1 billion.

Among 27 reporting hospitals and research institutions, 697 licenses and options were executed in 2009.