Universities becoming a breeding ground for businesses

Professor Michael Sefton and his student Michael May were looking at something that looked a lot like the inside of a pomegranate — polymer beads surrounded by a network of blood vessels. The 2 chemical engineers had been studying the effects of polymer coatings on cells when they noticed that blank polymer capsules — those without a cell inside — promoted the development of blood vessels in laboratory animals.

Rimon Therapeutics is the spinoff company that emerged from that serendipitous bit of research at the University of Toronto, May told a recent U of T workshop on the commercialization of university research. They hope to be able to generate blood vessels in other tissues, including the heart, explained May, Rimon's president. Sefton is chief scientific officer for the company, which now has 7 employees and is involved in preclinical trials.

Rimon is but one of the growing number of spinoff companies formed since 1990, when the university loosened its ownership claims on research conducted there and agreed to give more benefit to the inventors. Last year, 6 new companies emerged, a figure that doesn't include spinoffs from research at the university's 11 affiliated hospitals.

But creation of these companies also creates the potential for conflict, especially with respect to the student–professor relationship, participants told the workshop. Peter Munsche, the U of T's assistant vice-president of technology transfer, noted that when graduate students are involved with research linked to a spinoff company, it “can have an effect on their thesis. You have to ensure that the possibility of delay in publication of theses [because of confidentiality concerns] is kept to a minimum.”

As well, students can find their own work being diverted by the company's needs, and confidentiality in the laboratory can create problems. “Can your thesis supervisor also be your employer?” he asked. “The role of student and that of employee, or co-owner, are different, and we need to understand that and be alert. Also, the interests and values of a company and a university are different.”

Novosight Inc. has found one potential solution. Fourth-year students who elect to use a machine invented and patented by Lianne Ing, a PhD student in chemical engineering and president of Novosight Inc., and her supervisor, Professor Stephen Balke, have to sign a confidentiality agreement, which also states that any research they do that contributes to improving the machine will be recognized.