New Research Shows Growing Industry-Academic Ties in Advancing New Medicines to Improve Patient Lives

Philadelphia, PA (June 16, 2015) – The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Battelle’s Technology Partnership Practice today released a report highlighting the growing and essential nature of industry-academic collaborations that bridge the gap between bioscience discoveries and the delivery of innovative products to improve medical outcomes in patients.

The report, Advancing Translational Research for Biomedical Innovation: Measuring Industry-University Connections, benchmarks progress a decade after the NIH Roadmap and the FDA Critical Path Report brought significant public attention and new programmatic efforts to advance translational research.  

“Industry-academic collaborations are widely recognized as a critical ingredient for accelerating translational research, both to improve R&D productivity and reduce the costs of translating discoveries into new medical products,” said BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood.  “This new research demonstrates exactly how critical such collaborations are, and how quickly these ties are expanding.”  

The study was presented at the 2015 BIO International Convention, as part of the Translational Research Forum, where industry and academic thought leaders explore ways to overcome stagnating government funding for both basic biomedical research and early-stage technologies struggling to cross the ‘valley of death.’

“This report demonstrates the contribution of industry and academic partners across the four stages that all translational research must pass through in bringing new treatments to patients – basic research, technology development, clinical trials, and new product launch,” stated Mitch Horowitz, Vice President at Battelle. “This study also goes beyond just the numbers by demonstrating some of the exciting developments that are advancing translational research.”