Bayh-Dole Coalition report highlights eight American Innovators

Recent medical breakthroughs are enabling better diagnostics for prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s and improving real-time imaging of tumors during surgery.

The researchers behind these breakthroughs are among eight innovators highlighted by the Bayh-Dole Coalition in its fourth annual Faces of American Innovation report. Along with celebrating the innovators, the report calls attention to America’s system of intellectual property protections that enables inventors to commercialize their ideas.

One essential piece of legislation is the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which says inventions created using research that received federal funds can be patented for private commercialization. Allowing private ownership of this IP enables the investment that brings new ideas to market, so people can benefit from these innovations.

“Since its enactment, the impact of the Bayh-Dole system has been nothing short of extraordinary: $1 trillion contributed to the U.S. GDP, 6.5 million jobs supported, and more than 19,000 startups launched,” says the introduction of the Faces of American Innovation report. “More than four decades later, the system continues to deliver returns—and the stories in this report represent just a small fraction.”

The Bayh-Dole Coalition, whose members include the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), was created to celebrate and protect the Bayh-Dole Act and promote policy that encourages American innovation.

BIO’s membership in the coalition makes sense because biotech is one of the most research-heavy industries. Investors need to ensure the IP produced by biotech research is protected, so they can recoup their investments by commercializing innovations.

BIO’s work toward protecting IP includes convening experts in its IP Counsels Committee, as well as more recent initiatives. BIO’s IP Task Force assembles experts from BIO staff and member companies who collaborate on IP strategy and specific policy activities. BIO’s Board has created the Economic Growth, Innovation, and Intellectual Property Committee, which sets BIO’s IP strategy and oversees the IP-related work performed by the IP Task Force and elsewhere at BIO.

“We are working on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in international fora to advocate and educate stakeholders about how IP supports a strong biotech ecosystem—and how best to protect it,” said Joe Franklin, BIO’s Chief Legal and Policy Officer.

Innovators honored by the Bayh-Dole Coalition

The Bayh-Dole Coalition will honor the innovators profiled in the report with the American Innovator Award at a June 3-4 event in Washington, DC. Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) is among the distinguished speakers scheduled for the event. This year’s Bayh-Dole awardees include:

• Dr. Colleen Scott, chemist and associate professor at Mississippi State University, who discovered a new class of shortwave infrared (SWIR) imaging dyes with the potential to improve precise vizualization of tumors during cancer surgery.
• Dr. Randall Bateman and Dr. David Holtzman, neurologists and professors at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, who pioneered PrecivityAD® and PrecivityAD2, the first blood-based diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s disease, providing earlier, more efficient, and more accessible diagnosis.
• Dr. Robert Dannals, professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Dr. Martin Pomper, professor and chair of radiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who developed Pylarify®, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved imaging agent for prostate cancer that improved detection.
• Dr. Eric Fossum, vice provost of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer and senior professor at Dartmouth College, and Dr. Sabrina Kemeny, co-founder of tech startup TAP Systems, Inc., coinventors of “camera-on-a-chip” technology used in modern digital imaging and video across smartphones, medical devices, space exploration, and other application.
• Dr. Carmel Majidi, engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who created thermally conductive rubber called “Thubber,” a multifunctional soft, elastic, and conductive material that is transforming thermal management in robotics, electronics, and manufacturing systems.

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