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The Search for Money
The committee surveyed CEOs of California pharmaceutical companies who
were virtually unanimous in their distaste for dealing with Stanford.
"Stanford . . . is perceived as being one of the worst American
universities to deal with, specifically on the topic of ownership/patent
status of intellectual property that arises from a clinical research
project," complained Alza Corp., a Palo Alto drug company. It "makes
Alza very unwilling to pursue research with the institution."
Chris Scott understands that frustration. As director of corporate
relations at the medical school, Scott serves as the school's "deal guy"
with industry. Tall, thin and friendly, he looks as if he should be
sitting in a lab - he was trained as a molecular biologist
rather than courting company executives. A black bicycle rests against
the wall of his small, neat office in the basement of Beckman Center.
But don't be fooled - he knows the commercial side, having worked
for years in the biotechnology industry and later running a group of
health food businesses. Colleagues praise him as an effective and
influential force for change within the university.
When he first arrived in 1989, Scott found what he calls "a
misconception of the enterprise spirit." While Stanford gave
considerable room to faculty to pursue their entrepreneurial projects,
as an institution it seemed to mistrust the corporate world. "We see
working with industry as somehow bad," he says. "Now that it's become OK
to talk with them, we're finding that the enemy isn't them."
The enemy, if there is one, is a declining federal budget for research.
Through the decade, science spending by the government declined by 9
percent and undoubtedly will fall still further. And Stanford's
percentage of basic research funded by industry for years has hovered
far below the national average. Meanwhile, companies are no longer as
willing simply to donate money. Shareholders and boards of directors are
demanding bang for their buck. "They're coming back to us and saying:
'Let's talk new ways to structure these arrangements for us to get
rights to the technology,' " says Scott. "There's a wonderful
opportunity to collaborate."
Scott has launched a campaign to move the medical school and hospital
into a potential gold mine of profits. Stanford takes in about $6.5
million a year from corporate sponsors financing clinical drug trials.
Scott hopes to
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