The Office of Economic Development (OED) Life Sciences team is offering support for those faculty interested in commercializing their research - a challenging, though fulfilling process.
Faculty that have recently expressed interest in the commercialization of their inventions may want to review the recently announced solicitation for the $200 Million Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (Fund). Applications for up to $500K are now being considered on an ongoing basis by Connecticut Innovations (CI). CI expects applicants to present research objectives that will readily lead to commercial products or services benefiting human health. Please note that it has been explicitly stated that the Fund will not be used to fund basic research. The process includes a preliminary application that specifically asks about commercial use of the technology. Full applications will be by invitation only. As you know, funding for translational work is extremely competitive. Therefore, it will be important to offer pre-applications that meet CI expectations and the rolling deadline offers a time frame to accommodate a discussion and disclosure prior to submission.
We would be pleased to advise faculty on the suitability of their pre-application for the program and potentially offer information to help frame requests in a way that aligns with the goals of the Fund and CI's expectations. Given the commercial focus of the Fund, it will be important for applicants to know the intellectual property (IP) landscape surrounding their technology. We encourage faculty to disclose any discoveries that may be the topic of an application prior to submitting to CI. This will allow us to review the IP landscape closely with the applicant. We hope to offer advice that will enhance the opportunity to be invited to apply and can also offer support in the application phase with further details on the IP landscape as well as the market opportunity.
Please go to http://www.ctinnovations.com/program/30 for the full solicitation and application for the Fund. Please contact us if you would like to discuss the Fund and your ideas for an application.
You can reach us at the OED by directly contacting:
Greg Gallo – OED, Director, Life Sciences- ggallo@uconn.edu (860) 679-8774, or,
Karen Woodward – OED, Industry Liaison of Life Sciences- karen.woodward@uconn.edu (860) 881-6790
For more information, contact: Ana Lena Fidantsef at ana.fidantsef@uconn.edu