LifeScienceHistory.com launches on-demand genealogy tool for life science spin-offs

LifeScienceHistory.com has released a Genealogy on Demand tool that maps U.S. and Canadian life science companies founded on technology licensed from universities, non-profits and federal labs. The project aims to show how public research funding, tech transfer and commercialization drive company formation and jobs.

Why it matters: - The new Genealogy on Demand is designed to show how university, non-profit and federal research feeds life science company formation across North America. - The tool aims to give states and provinces a fast view of local innovation depth, spin-offs and the role of continued federal funding in economic development. - The release comes as technology transfer remains a key path from publicly funded research to commercial products, including drugs and vaccines.

What happened: - LifeScienceHistory.com announced the launch of a one-of-a-kind Genealogy on Demand that tracks companies founded on technology licensed from universities, non-profit research organizations and federal laboratories. - The resource is organized by U.S. state and Canadian province. - Phil Ness, publisher of LifeScienceHistory.com, developed the genealogy concept after creating genealogy posters to explain Washington state's emerging biotechnology industry to lawmakers.

The details: - Ness said the poster format is an effective communication tool for economic and technology development because it presents the industry in a family-style snapshot. - The tool is meant to quickly show the depth and breadth of the industry in a given state or province, Ness said. - The launch highlights the Bayh-Dole Technology Transfer Act, passed by Congress in 1980, which allows universities, non-profit organizations and private companies to own and profit from intellectual property developed with federal funding. - The release says technology transfer offices, innovation centers and specialized lab-equipped incubators are now common at universities, non-profits and federal labs in the U.S. and Canada. - These offices serve as gateways for companies licensing research developed inside those institutions. - Data from the Association of University Technology Managers shows that from 1996 to 2020 more than 149,000 patents were issued. - The same data set shows 69% of those patents went to start-ups and small companies. - The release says public-private partnerships created more than 200 drugs and vaccines. - LifeScienceHistory.com is owned and published by Info.Resource, a Seattle-based company founded in 1997. - Info.Resource previously operated a network of state- and Canadian province-based life science websites. - LifeScienceHistory.com says it has folded that localized data into a growing resource of more than 20,000 pages that includes page-flipping history, company information, Genealogy on Demand, original cartoons and the song and video “Earth is a Rock, Let the DNA Mold Me.” - More information is available on LifeScienceHistory.com and the company’s social channels on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Between the lines: - The release positions the genealogy product as both a historical archive and a policy tool for arguing that public research spending can lead to private-sector jobs and commercialization. - By focusing on state and provincial breakdowns, LifeScienceHistory.com is also targeting regional economic-development audiences, not just life science historians.

What's next: - LifeScienceHistory.com says the resource will continue to grow as more localized data is added. - The company is also promoting the genealogy tool alongside its broader history and media content to expand audience engagement.