University committed to smoothing the path from laboratory to marketplace

by Steven Schultz
The federal government's decision last month to approve a cancer drug that grew out of Princeton research was an important moment not only for cancer patients. At Princeton's Office of Technology Licensing, the drug approval was an example of a successful and long-standing effort to facilitate the transfer of basic discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace.

And, by all indications, it is the kind of success that will be occurring more often at Princeton. In recent years, both the number and market impact of Princeton patents has increased dramatically. In 1994, for example, the University filed for 31 patents, compared to 117 patent applications filed last year.

In December, Technology Review magazine, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ranked Princeton sixth among U.S. universities for "technological strength," an increase from 43rd place in 1997. The ranking measures both the number of patents issued and how often those patents have been cited in the current year relative to all U.S. patents.

Rankings and numbers of patents, however, are not the driving force behind the University's technology transfer efforts, said John Ritter, director of the Office of Technology Licensing. "Our mission is to assist the faculty in bringing their technologies that are developed at Princeton to the public so many people can benefit," he said.

The full story is available in the Weekly Bulletin.