WARF inventions rank it among top in nation

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation ranked third among all U.S. colleges and universities with 278 inventions disclosed in 1999, according to a survey conducted by an independent professional organization.

And the 79 inventions patented during the year ranked WARF seventh in the nation. In addition, WARF had 185 licenses that produced revenue ranking it seventh in the country, says the survey by the Association of University Technology Managers Inc., a nonprofit corporation of more than 2,400 technology managers.

“WARF’s performance in this survey is a testament to the high quality faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the hard work and competent professionalism of the WARF staff,” says Carl Gulbrandsen, WARF managing director.

Companies using discoveries patented by WARF for UW–Madison professors created more than $1 billion in gross revenues and $18 million in income for the foundation. The foundation provided more than $35 million to support research and excellence at the university last year.

“The partnership between WARF and the university is good for the University, its professors, Wisconsin companies and the people of Wisconsin,” Gulbrandsen says. “The technology created at the university has fueled economic growth in such diverse industries as pharmaceutical products, genomics, agriculture, agriculture biotech, power electronics, and medical imaging technology.”

In addition to licensing technology to existing Wisconsin companies, WARF technology led to the formation of four start-up companies in 1999, Gulbrandsen says.

Examples of successful technology transfer include:

• Professor Lynn Allen Hoffman discovered a process to create skin in a petri dish. The skin can be used for skin grafts for burn victims as well as testing topical drugs and cosmetics.
• Professor Hector DeLuca invented a Vitamin D compound that because of its delayed response will be a major advance in the treatment of psoriasis and other skin disorders.
• Professor Ronald Raines developed synthetic collagen that does not break down and will improve plastic surgery.

WARF, a non-profit organization, licenses discoveries by UW–Madison researchers. WARF matches university knowledge with commercial needs, resulting in new products marketed at the same time generating appropriate financial rewards to the inventors, their departments and the UW–Madison as a whole.

Here are the top 10 in each category of the 1999 survey by the Association of University Technology Managers Inc.:

Invention Disclosures

1. University of California System
2. M.I.T.
3. WARF, University of Wisconsin–Madison
4. Johns Hopkins University
5. University of Pennsylvania
6. Stanford University
7. University of Washington/WRF
8. University of Minnesota
9. SUNY Research Foundation
10. Harvard University

Patent Applications

1. University of California System
2. M.I.T.
3. Johns Hopkins University
4. Stanford University
5. Cornell Research Foundation
6. Harvard University
7. WARF, University of Wisconsin–Madison
8. University of Pennsylvania
9. Cornell Research Foundation
10. University of Michigan

Licenses Yielding Income

1. University of California System
2. M.I.T.
3. Stanford University
4. Columbia University
5. Purdue Research Foundation
6. Cornell Research Foundation
7. WARF, University of Wisconsin–Madison
8. University of Washington/WRF
9. Harvard University
10. Texas A&M University