The commercialization of university-based research: Balancing risks and benefits

Abstract

BackgroundThe increasing push to commercialize university research has emerged as a significant science policy challenge. While the socio-economic benefits of increased and rapid research commercialization are often emphasized in policy statements and discussions, there is less mention or discussion of potential risks. In this paper, we highlight such potential risks and call for a more balanced assessment of the commercialization ethos and trends.DiscussionThere is growing evidence that the pressure to commercialize is directly or indirectly associated with adverse impacts on the research environment, science hype, premature implementation or translation of research results, loss of public trust in the university research enterprise, research policy conflicts and confusion, and damage to the long-term contributions of university research.SummaryThe growing emphasis on commercialization of university research may be exerting unfounded pressure on researchers and misrepresenting scientific research realities, prospects and outcomes. While more research is needed to verify the potential risks outlined in this paper, policy discussions should, at a minimum, acknowledge them.

Can Nanotechnology and Materials Science Help the Fight against SARS-CoV-2?

“…Other technological solutions need to be envisaged in order to promote nanosafety and support technological knowledge transfer and commercialization. This is becoming more and more a part of our academic mission [89,90].…”

The research commercialisation agenda: a concerning development for public health research

“…Even when technologies make health and medical services more efficient, costs savings may not be passed on – the failure of the Australian Government’s attempts to reduce rebates to more accurately reflect the sharply reduced time it took to undertake cataract surgery and coronary angiography due to advances in technology serving as an example 11 . Evidence also suggests associations between research commercialisation and data withholding, erosion of collaborative research relationships, reluctance to be involved in open science initiatives, overstated research results, premature implementation and use of health and medical services, erosion of public trust in research, skewed health policy, and even damage to the long‐term economic contribution of university research 12 . Population health gains and commercial returns from biomedical research are declining, and leading experts have called for a “radical shift of life sciences funding priorities, away from the biomedical bubble and towards the social, behavioural, and environmental determinants of health” 13…”

“…While in theory research commercialisation initiatives can generate investment in emerging areas of research, the goals and endpoints of such initiatives are not well articulated, the potential risks and challenges remain largely absent from policy considerations, and there is far more research highlighting risks arising from research commercialisation initiatives than benefits 12 …”

“…11 Evidence also suggests associations between research commercialisation and data withholding, erosion of collaborative research relationships, reluctance to be involved in open science initiatives, overstated research results, premature implementation and use of health and medical services, erosion of public trust in research, skewed health policy, and even damage to the longterm economic contribution of university research. 12 Population health gains and commercial returns from biomedical research are declining, and leading experts have called for a "radical shift of life sciences funding priorities, away from the biomedical bubble and towards the social, behavioural, and environmental determinants of health". 13 These concerns are in addition to broader issues in health and medical research, where the role of public health research is undervalued, and the value of noninterventionist, non-clinical or population doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12930 © 2019 The Authors Editorial approaches to health improvementincluding action on social determinants -are often ignored; despite the fact that such approaches may address health issues far more cost-effectively and effectively than biomedical approaches.…”

A Systematic Review On The Critical Success Factor Of Research Commercialization

“…One of the TTO role is to manage the Intellectual Property (IP) of the research product (Crawford & Benedetto, 2010). The improper management of the intellectual property (IP) and protection will delay in the process of diffusion of the technology from universities to industries and leads to the problem in technology transfer process (Caulfield & Ogbogu, 2015;Wonglimpiyarat, 2014aWonglimpiyarat, , 2014b. Other problem that the research institution mostly faces is the lack of the university engagement with government and industries which are leads to the less emphasis for commercialization (Kaur et al, 2014;Rasmussen, 2008).…”