The University of Michigan is launching a new $7.5 million to help its medical researchers push their work from the lab to the marketplace.
The University of Michigan has launched a new $7.5 million fund to help medical research projects reach the commercial marketplace.
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The fund will make use of a $2.4 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s 21st Century Jobs Fund — a program that was first implemented in Michigan in 2006.
U-M is also dedicating about $5 million of its own money to the project, using a combination of funds from the budgets of the Medical School, Vice President for Research office and the Office of Technology Transfer.
Medical researchers at U-M will be eligible to apply for research money from the fund, called the U-M MTRAC for Life Sciences, for the next three years.
The money is intended to help researchers take the first steps with projects that have high commercial potential — including new treatments, medical devices and diagnostic tools — toward making them commercially available.
“While new inventions, licenses to new and existing businesses, and increased follow on funding will be among the important milestones for this effort, the ultimate measure of success will be the positive impacts to human health — as well as job creation — that this funding will make possible,” said Steven L. Kunkel, the Medical School’s senior associate dean for research, in a statement.
In 2012, researchers from U-M’s Medical School utilized $470 million for their work, $45 million of which came from private industries. With that funding, Medical School researchers recorded 117 new inventions, 47 patent applications and 57 agreements with businesses last year.
The U-M Tech Transfer office itself reported a record number of new inventions — 368 — in fiscal year 2012.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.