Photo By Neche Harris | Attendees of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s annual convention visit the...... read more read more
FORT DETRICK, Md. – Representatives from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command’s Medical Technology Transfer Office showcased new biomedical technologies available for commercial licensing and discussed collaborative opportunities with biotechnology industry representatives from around the world at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s annual convention in San Diego, California, June 3-6.
A new vaccine designed to blunt the effects of fentanyl overdoses developed by MRDC’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in partnership with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Henry Jackson Foundation was a widely discussed new medical products at the MTT’s booth at the event’s Defense Health Agency pavilion. Other biomedical technologies for which MTT is seeking partnerships with commercial manufacturers include the Automated Processing of the Physiological Registry for Assessment of Injury Severity Hemorrhage Risk Index, the first triage system ever cleared by the FDA for assessing hemorrhage risk of trauma patients; the Ocular Chemical Injury Active Neutralization Ring, designed to help doctors and medics save the eyesight of Warfighters exposed to harmful chemicals on the battlefield; and a wearable head trauma diagnostic device that uses ultrasound to allow medics and first responders to quickly diagnose and constantly monitor head injuries.
Attendees were eager to learn about the MTT’s Assistive Technology Transfer process, or AT2, which connects inventors with expert assistance at each stage of their inventions’ development, particularly during the critical early stages of prototyping and field testing. AT2 helps them identify and gain access to funding sources, meet experts who can answer questions about regulatory and licensing requirements, obtain resources for developing and testing prototypes and assist with military and civilian sales and licensing, among other support. This helps ensure that the new technologies will be mature and ready for manufacture, increasing the likelihood that they will be licensed.
Developed to help inventors of new biomedical technologies navigate the complex process of obtaining funding to develop their products, collaborate with Defense Health Agency labs and medical treatment facilities and sell their product to the DOD, the AT2 process has enabled more than 25 biomedical technologies to achieve commercial and military sales, generating over $26 million in licensing revenue. MTT has used that revenue to reward inventors and invested the rest back into R&D and the AT2 program to help move other new inventions through the development cycle.
The BIO convention offers many opportunities for networking, which can lead to new business relationships and partnerships.
“Another major benefit of attending BIO is the ability to connect with other researchers and program managers throughout DOD and the medical community,” says Datlof. “It's also an incredibly valuable opportunity for companies that aren't familiar with DHA and its research and development mission to learn about us. Part of our job is to make introductions, to say, ‘Hey, you should talk to these people over here; you'll get a bigger and better picture of how DOD can work with your company.’”
Relationship building at the BIO convention also extends to connecting companies that are working along similar lines – especially smaller businesses that may have great ideas but lack the funding and industry connections to develop them. Such connections made at events like BIO can lead to agreements that provide the funding needed for clinical trials and prototype development and testing.
“Marrying multiple technologies just makes good sense,” says Datlof. “One of the most useful things we can do at a conference like BIO is to connect dots. We try to find complimentary technologies that may actually have the ability, when combined, to solve a problem.”
In addition to interacting with attendees at the DHA pavilion, MTT staff engaged in one-on-one “partner talks” with industry representatives to discuss potential collaborations. Attendees interested in participating in a partner talk with MRDC representatives were able to sign up for a 30-minute block through the event website.
Nearly 20,000 attendees from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, academia, government and the nonprofit sector, as well as 1,400 exhibitors, participated in BIO International 2024, which bills itself as the world's largest biotechnology event. In addition to MTT and WRAIR, the DHA pavilion included representatives from MRDC’s Medical Materiel Development Activity, Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Surgical Research, Office of Regulated Activities and Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. They were joined by representatives from Army Futures Command, the Army Development Command Chemical Biological Center, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense, the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium, the Medical CBRN Defense Consortium, Air Force Technology Transfer and Transition, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2024 15:05 |
| Story ID: | 473893 |
| Location: | FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 161 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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