Unlocking The Ivory Tower

Omer Hiziroglu faces a peculiar problem. The director of technology transfer at Inovent, Turkey’s first technology-commercialization company, wants to give bioscience professors money to turn their research into patent-worthy products, but they don’t want it.

Inovent, founded in 2006 by Sabanci University, has succeeded in funding academics in other technology sectors, who often have industry or entrepreneurial experience. The Istanbul-based firm has funded eight businesses in just two years. Spanning engineering, R&D and software, almost all of the start-ups in the company’s portfolio are focused on licensable, disruptive technologies that could produce innovative products for high-growth markets. But biotechnology remains a sticking point.

“We are facing a classic dilemma of academic publications versus patent application,” says Hiziroglu. “Some academics have objections to commercializing, as they want [their work] to be for the greater good, and they feel their integrity will be compromised. They say they are not doing it for money,” Hiziroglu adds.

Many small and medium enterprises in the life sciences have expressed a serious interest in working with Inovent, which is still wholly owned by Sabanci University. Nevertheless, Turkish patent law gives professors, not their universities, ownership of any technologies they invent, so the schools have little leverage to push academics to commercialize. Recently, for instance, Inovent was interested in commercializing a new drug-delivery system, says Hiziroglu, but the professor who created it “didn’t want to go through the hoops for generating commercial value.”

In areas outside biotechnology, Inovent works with several other universities, advising them on how technology transfer is done. In fact, the company specializes in development, commercialization and management of intellectual property developed by universities, research institutions, technology companies and entrepreneurs in Turkey. It combines the functions of technology transfer, company formation, business incubation, investment sourcing and business development to accelerate commercialization and business growth.

“We give them ‘how to’ advice,” says Hiziroglu. “When something is worth commercialization, we also take it to market,” he adds. In addition, the company has a small fund that gives seed money of up to $250,000 to deserving universities and small-to-medium enterprises. “If we find something of interest, instead of licensing the technology, we are able to fund it,” says Hiziroglu.

The trouble is that few biotech professors are willing to think outside the box. “We are trying to develop an entrepreneurial frame of mind and the ability to think that patents and publications are not contrary,” says Hiziroglu. Inovent is now working hard to spread awareness and show professors that there is value in its services. Until then, giving away money to them will remain an uphill battle.