Boston Biomedical Innovation Center

A well-recognized gap exists in the path from biomedical discovery in academia to clinicalapplication and commercialization of therapeutic, device, and diagnostic technologies incardiovascular, pulmonary, hematologic, and sleep disorders. This chasm is the result ofinadequate funding for support of proof-of concept or validation studies essential for early stagedevelopment; insufficient access to the resources and expertise needed to develop newtechnologies; and a lack of knowledge and experience among academic investigators in bringingnew ideas to commercial realization. Within the partnering institutions included in this application,the essential elements exist with which to build the infrastructure needed to support and sustainthe uninterrupted, durable flow of inventions from discovery through development andcommercialization. While these institutions have a clear track record of remarkably successfuldevelopment of many biomedical technologies, most of these commercial successes have beenachieved by the tenacity of individual inventors rather than with the help of committed institutionalmechanisms. We proposed to address these key shortcomings by establishing the regionalBoston Center for Accelerated Innovation in Therapeutics, Devices, and Diagnostics for Heart,Lung, Blood, and Sleep Disorders (B-BIC, or the Boston Biomedical Innovation Center). The keyobjectives of this Center. are to: 1) develop an integrated infrastructure that would expand theuniverse of commercializable technologies for heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders; 2) placethese opportunities in the proper evaluative context through an engagement ('seed it'), solicitation('find it'), and selection ('pick it') strategy; 3) efficiently and effectively bring those selected to anappropriate exit point from the development process; and 4) provide the educational andmentoring infrastructure necessary for the development of the proper entrepreneurial skills amongacademic innovators. By achieving these goals, B-BlC would change the culture of our academicenvironment, as well as the relationship between the public and private sectors in facilitatingsuccessful development strategies for technologies in heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders forthe ultimate benefit of patients and society.