CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE (COE) Investing State matching dollars to commercialize research university technologies. Over 2,000 Utahns employed by Centers of Excellence spin-out companies. This year was an excellent year for the Centers of excellence program. The highlight of the year included 8 companies (spinouts) started this year which licensed technology from Centers supported by this program. These spinouts include 6 companies emerging from the University of Utah and one each from Utah State University and Brigham Young University. In the Life Sciences sector, Larada Sciences, Navigen, and Philotek, Inc. are all new companies in our landscape. Nano-Oxides is a startup in the material sciences industry, with an obvious emphasis in nanomaterials, and in the IT sector, Vistrails, Dynamic Screening Solutions, Apollo Acoustics and State of RT are all companies that are licensing technologies supported by Centers of Excellence funding. An important element of all of “I see COE providing the these emerging companies is the essential bridge to motikey role that the Centers of Exvate people to take the cellence Business Teams played necessary risk to spin in their formation and early acresearch technologies out complishments. This pairing of seasoned technology business into industry.” executives and serial entrepre—Bob Carter, CEO, Flying Sensors neurs with some of the best university developed technology in the State has proven very effective in enhancing the success of the early stage company development. Our professors frequently mention the high caliber of individuals that we have attracted and the tremendous value that these business team members contribute to the success of the program. The Centers of Excellence program celebrated two decades of supporting economic growth in Utah with the publication of a 20th Anniversary report, available online. Over the first 20 years of the program, technologies supported by the Centers of Excellence Program have resulted in more than 200 license agreements, and at least 126 Utah-based companies have been created to license and market technology fostered by the program. 55 of these spinouts are still “alive” in Utah, three are alive out of State, and another 11 have been acquired and moved out of state. As of February 2007, these Utah companies directly employ over 2035 persons in the state, at an average salary over $65,000. Some well-known firms that have been assisted by the Centers of Excellence program include Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN), Sonic Innovations, Inc. (SNCI), Moxtek, Cimetrix, and Autonomous Solutions. Emerging successes include InfoWest, Live Wire, Andigen and Rocky Mountain Composites. Startups just emerging from the Centers program in the past two years include Flying Sensors, Wasatch Microfluidics, and Glycosan BioSystems. These firms are among the many companies strengthening Utah’s economy through technologies developed at Utah’s colleges and universities. The Centers of Excellence Program has undergone significant enhancements in the 2006-07 fiscal year to prepare it for the next two decades of success. During the past year, the program evaluated the feasibility of the concept of making grants to Licensees in order to make the transition out of the lab and into a
Governor’s Office of Economic Development • Annual Report 2007
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