Peter Frey
“I could have gone into medicine and become a doctor and maybe helped thousands of people in my lifetime, but if you develop a drug, you can help millions.” —Rick Shimkets
Statistics show it’s working, with an estimated economic impact of $100 million in Georgia from jobs created by products and companies within the program’s pipeline, according to a study conducted by UGA economist Jeffrey Dorfman. Some of the best examples of products to come out of Innovation Gateway are in the agriculture, poultry and biomedical industries. UGA is a leader in the development of new peanut, blueberry and turfgrass varieties, the latter taking center stage at global sporting events such as soccer’s World Cup. While these staples are a key component of what Innovation Gateway does, Eberhart points out there is more to the story. “Plant varieties and biomedical products generate significant revenue, but there are a wide variety of products and companies based on UGA research,” he says. “UGA has the most diverse, comprehensive research portfolio in the state of Georgia and our commercialization pipeline reflects that diversity.”
Kirby Alton (BS ’74, PhD ’81), far left, and Rick Shimkets (BS ’93) are leaders of Abeome, a biotech startup incubated through Innovation Gateway, UGA’s technology transfer program. The company focuses on creating antibodies targeted to autoimmune diseases.
In fact, the university consistently ranks in the top 10 of all U.S. universities for total licenses and option agreements executed as well as for the number of active licenses, according to the Association of University Technology Managers. The statistic offers a good measure of UGA’s success in partnering with industry to move new discoveries and technologies to the marketplace, Eberhart says. A chief goal of Innovation Gateway is to expand opportunities to partner with industry, according to David Lee, vice president for research. “UGA takes great pride in its success in moving new field and laboratory discoveries into the market through partnerships with industry. With UGA’s growing research enterprise we can look forward to having success across a broader spectrum of market sectors, ranging from human medicine, bioengineered microbes and poultry vaccines to cybersecurity software and educational tools,” he says. The Innovation Gateway team fosters discoveries into market-focused products that both make money and serve
september 2016 | georgia magazine | 23