The protection and licensing of intellectual property (IP) generated by research discoveries are fundamental to the LICR’s commitment to translate its discoveries into applications for human benefit.
Without a proprietary position, for-profit companies will not invest in the clinical development, manufacture, distribution, marketing and sales required to translate LICR discoveries into new therapies for cancer patients. Accordingly, LICR patents its discoveries such that its IP is managed for public service; the IP is made available to the academic research community, and a financial return can be expected for the company that invests in the therapy’s successful development and, potentially, for LICR to fund further research efforts.
LICR's patent position allows the Institute to obtain proprietary reagents and clinically evaluate whether these reagents might complement the therapeutic potential of the Institute's own discoveries through licensing interactions with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. LICR's interactions with industry are designed to protect the ethos and integrity of the Institute and to ensure that its discoveries are actively pursued as prognostic, diagnostic and/or therapeutic agents for human benefit.
