Medical Innovation Center
Technology Development Fund

Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) researchers continue to make many discoveries that have commercial potential. However, in the current market many of these discoveries lack the proof of principle needed to attract the interest of traditional commercial partners. Investors and potential industry licensees often require lead product generation and efficacy/toxicity assessment. Unfortunately, traditional funding mechanisms do not sponsor this proof of principle work, resulting in a widening gap between academic research endpoints and investor or industry partnership. Left unfilled, this gap prevents promising technologies from reaching the market place and making a positive impact on human health. The Office of Technology and Business Development (OTBD) has established the OTBD Technology Development Fund (TDF) to bridge this gap. The TDF provides funds to discover and test product leads, which may include the discovery and optimization of therapeutics or the development and testing of a medical device. See Figure 1 below for an example in the therapeutic space.

Figure 1: Academic research projects in the biological sciences can lead to the discovery of a drug target. However, a target alone is often not enough to attract significant commercial interest. Traditionally financial and technical resources have not been available to academic researchers for drug discovery and development. TDF Funding will support focused drug discovery and development projects that will advance technologies to the stage where there is likely to be greater commercial interest.

The Fund

The OTBD anticipates providing TDF funding for multiple projects per year at a rate of approximately $25,000 to $100,000 each. The number of projects funded per year will be based on the funding available, number of approved projects per year, and the funding required for the approved projects. Projects will be selected based on their commercial relevance, the time required to perform the proof of concept work, the MSSM intellectual property position, and the resources available to perform the necessary work.

The OTBD performs an initial review of currently active dockets to determine potential TDF funding candidates. OTBD members then meet with the corresponding investigators to develop a project plan. Project plans should include a research plan and budget for the proof of principle research. It is anticipated that some of the work will be outsourced to third parties who may also contribute input for the budget and plan. For example, an antibody company may be contracted to generate antibodies against a therapeutic cell surface target, or a medicinal chemistry CRO may be hired to generate high-affinity lead compounds against an MSSM protein target. Over time, the OTBD plans to expand the number of program candidates by holding an open solicitation of TDF funding proposals. These proposals would be accompanied by a new invention disclosure or be tied to an existing invention disclosure.

Commercial Review Panel

When the OTBD has received a complete proposal, the proposal will enter a final selection process. Final projects for funding will be selected based on input from commercial review panels. The panels consist of at least 2 members, selected from outside MSSM, with commercially relevant experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, venture capital, and related industries. The number of panels per year varies depending on the number of potential projects in the pipeline for review. If there are multiple completed proposals at a time, panels may review multiple projects.

Funding Distribution

Upon selection of projects, investigators are notified and funding is distributed in accordance with the proposal and the corresponding services and research to be performed. In some cases, a portion or all of funding may be paid exclusively to a third party vendor, such as a medicinal chemistry CRO, as described by the proposal.

Project Monitoring

The OTBD manager monitors the progress of the proof of concept work and meets periodically with the investigator and/or a representative from a third-party contractor to review the data. Upon completion of the TDF funded work, the OTBD manager markets the technology to commercial sources, which may include the companies of the corresponding panel members.