GROWING PAINS FOR NEW ACADEMIC-INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS

Five decades of almost unwavering federal support of university research in biomedicine have spawned a biotechnology revolution that holds dramatic promise for the public health and the U.S. economy. To make that promise a reality, the federal government now strongly encourages universities to facilitate the practical application of research results by participating in academic/industry relationships. These relationships are yielding important health and economic benefits, but the new economic entanglements of U.S. universities also could undermine the public trust that has sustained federal support of biomedical research. Thus, efforts to speed the transfer of technologies through academic/industry relationships may have enormous effects on the government/university partnership that gave birth to those technologies.