Wistar Institute Launches Research Network to Team Up With Startups
Wistar Institute. Image by Frank Carroll via Flickr.
The need for increased commercialization in the region in 2017 couldn’t be more urgent, and researchers in the region are taking heed.
The Wistar Institute recently launched the Philadelphia Research Consortium, a research network of organizations that are committed to “facilitating easy access” to the region’s research.
This means the Wistar Institute and its 12 partners in the consortium so far are making a concerted effort to collaborate with life-sciences startups in the region. Heather A. Steinman, Wistar’s vice president for business development and executive director of technology transfer says the consortium will try to achieve two goals. First, they’d like to “enable transformative, potentially lifesaving scientific progress.” And next, they’d like to foster long-term collaborations between Philly’s academic research community and life-sciences startups.
The consortium also wants to simplify the commercialization process, which can often be burdensome and bureaucratic. Through the programs, partners can enter into a sponsored research agreement that will allow them to skip having to negotiate a number of contracts. This can bring them to the proof-of-concept stage much quicker, allowing them to potentially bring innovations to the market sooner.
“Instead of using resources to support infrastructure, our partners can utilize their capital to support preclinical research across the region while advancing and de-risking their own programs,” Steinman said in a statement. “We have all the talent, research and resources in Philadelphia—all working together to create a vibrant life-sciences ecosystem.”
The following organizations are part of the new consortium with Wistar:
- Baruch S. Blumberg Institute
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Children’s National Health System
- Drexel University
- Lankenau Institute for Medical Research of Main Line Health
- Lehigh University
- Monell Chemical Senses Center
- Penn State
- Penn State College of Medicine
- Temple University
- Thomas Jefferson University
- University of the Sciences
This isn’t the first time the Wistar Institute has partnered up with leading researchers. In July, the biomedical research institute partnered with researchers across the country to conduct advanced trials in HIV research. For startups looking to go to work with the consortium, find the research agreement here.
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