NIDDK Office of Technology Transfer and Development

The Technology Advancement Office (TAO) is an office within the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). TAO facilitates research collaborations and the exchange of research materials by use of a Material Transfer Agreement or other types of technology transfer agreements between NIDDK and the global scientific community by developing research partnerships. Unlike most technology transfer and development offices, TAO also helps NIDDK inventors advance their technologies through preclinical development.
Technology transfer is the process by which basic science research and fundamental discoveries are developed into practical and commercially relevant applications and products. TAO is committed to transferring its technologies and research resources to external organizations for further research, development and/or commercialization to create biomedical products and services that benefit public health. TAO's staff members have been drawn from industry as well as other external organizations to provide a remarkable variety of skills to assist potential research partners. TAO staff evaluate and manage invention portfolios, oversee patent prosecution, negotiate licensing agreements and review cooperative research agreements.
Purpose and background.
The function of technology transfer is a process by which technology developed in one organization, in any one particular area and purpose, is applied in another organization, in another area, or for another purpose. Simply put, NIDDK TAO facilitates the movement of technology from the federal laboratories to industry and to state and local governments in order to maximize results of ongoing Federal research endeavors.
The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 established the foundation for technology transfer within the Federal government. This law recognized the need for enhanced information dissemination from the Federal government to private industry. It also required Federal laboratories to take a more active role in cooperation with potential users of federally developed technology.
Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 gives federal contractors, grantees, and cooperative agreement funding recipients the option to retain ownership rights to inventions they create as part of a federally sponsored research project and profit from commercializing them. The act also protects the government's interests by requiring that federal agencies and their authorized funding recipients retain a license to practice the invention for government purposes. It ultimately granted universities the clear right to pursue patents on government-funded research.
The Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 provides the legal basis for and encourages shared use of Government facilities and resources with the private sector to aid in the commercialization of new products and services. This act established the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) which encourages such research and development and it gave organizations the option to license their product.
Inventions and patenting.
The goal of the NIDDK research is to expand the basic scientific knowledge pertaining to health. Scientists submit manuscripts pertaining to their advances and discoveries to a variety of professional publications. This assures distribution of taxpayer-funded research results. Occasionally the research yields a potential new therapeutic, preventative treatment, or diagnostic product. NIDDK technologies may be patented if this it facilitates or attracts investment by partners for further research and commercial development. A patent is particularly important if development requires approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Licensing technologies.
TAO encourages the development by industry for public use and benefit of inventions from technology resulting from NIDDK and collaborative research. One of TAO's important functions is to raise visibility of the Institutes inventions by seeking out possible partnerships to further commercial development in order to benefit public health.
Commercialization is one of the most effective methods of transferring technologies. TAO assesses technical and marketing development, manufacturing requirements and financial feasibility in order to maximize a product's or invention's potential. TAO evaluates perceived need for the product, size of potential market, expected sales, advantages over competing products, and the cost of promoting the product.
Royalties are a form of income that is received by the inventor and the Institute as a result of a license granted to a collaborator to develop, manufacture or otherwise use or produce the invention for sale or distribution. The royalty rate, usually a percentage of sales of the invention, is negotiated as part of the license agreement between NIDDK and the licensee.
Research and technologies.
NIDDK conducts and supports research on many chronic and costly diseases affecting public health: diabetes, obesity, nutrition, digestive disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, hematologic diseases, and kidney and urologic diseases, as well as complications from HIV infection. NIDDK's biomedical research efforts could be generally characterized as “internal medicine”-oriented as they relate to the medical specialties of endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, infectious disease, and nephrology. NIDDK employs clinicians who conduct and manage clinical research studies on these various diseases. NIDDK employs medicinal chemists, who conduct research to synthesize and evaluate both macro-molecules and small molecules, including agonists and antagonists to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) such as Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), Adenosine, and 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptors. In addition, NIDDK employs biologists and process scientists who create a vast array of technologies ranging from cell lines to transgenic and knock-out mouse models. The biological modeling mathematicians generate new tools such as the Body Weight Simulator, an online tool for obesity researchers and weight management professionals to better understand how diet and exercise quantitatively contribute to weight loss and weight loss maintenance.