Dr. Michael Blaber, 2011 recipient of a King Program Technology Transfer Feasibility Grant at Florida State University, described his team’s work to deliver improved treatments to patients with ischemic disease - a condition where blood vessels do not provide enough blood flow to support healthy tissue. This is commonly seen in blood vessels within the heart as well as arms and legs, and is exacerbated by tobacco use, even passive exposure.
Current treatment involves injecting a “growth factor” protein into the affected area, causing the body to grow new blood vessels and supply the needed blood. However, there are difficulties with the current use of growth factor, and Dr. Blaber is using King Program funding to design and test an improved drug form in animals.
A private company has now expressed an interest in Dr. Blaber’s work and in testing his innovations for patients with ischemic disease, a step that would have been impossible without a King Program grant.
The Blaber lab has also generated strong preliminary data, boosting the likelihood of winning federal grant funding in today’s extremely competitive environment.
The Funding Gap for Translating Lab Findings to Patient Treatments
Once a project is ready to test in animals or humans, it’s difficult to find funds to support the work. “We are trying to move results from basic science towards the marketplace, and are applying our research to solve a real world problem. In the past, universities took basic research to a certain point then licensed patents or technologies to companies. Companies then developed the drug or technology for the marketplace,” Dr. Blaber explained.
“In the current economic environment, companies want to minimize their risk and are asking universities to do more of the development work. For example, companies now want us to conduct the pre-clinical animal testing phase, which is very expensive. Faculty are looking for funding sources to be able to do that. Along with this change, university budget cuts have created pressure on universities and faculty to move laboratory findings to real world solutions."
“The King and Bankhead-Coley Technology Transfer funding helps promote Florida universities and researchers as entrepreneurs and Florida as an entrepreneurial state. These grants focus on taking a good idea from the laboratory and turning it into a drug or product that will help people and consequently move the economy forward. It’s exceptionally important.”
“For a small investment at the right time, King funding helped us cross what’s known as ‘the valley of death,’ the bridge between our basic research and development by private companies.”
