We form a sort of bridge between the university and the companies. We translate the demand from business into the language of the researcher and the supply from the researchers into the language of business, and thus, the opportunities can find each other better.
– Dr. Tibor Balázs, CEO of Semmelweis Technology Transfer Company (SE TTC)
As Dr. Tibor Balázs emphasized, since TTC operated as a 100 percent university-owned limited liability company, it could act as a more dynamic link between the industry and researchers, serving the efficient transfer of knowledge. He considers it essential and motivating that TTC should become self-sustaining in the long term.
The company’s purpose and primary mission is to exclusively utilize the intellectual property generated at the university, to commercialize the spare capacity of the available core facility (i.e. research tools and infrastructure), and to help researchers increase the technological maturity of their innovations. (Based on international standards, the life cycle of an intellectual creation from idea to market-ready product, i.e. its technology readiness level [TRL], is measured on a nine-point scale. The higher the level, the greater the chance of effective utilization.)
Semmelweis Technology Transfer Company Plc. (TTC) was established following a decision of the Senate at its June 2024 meeting. It will operate directly under the rector and the chancellor, but will be part of the university’s RDI support system and will closely cooperate with it. The TTC’s seven-member board is chaired by the rector and comprises the chancellor and the vice-rector for science and innovations, as well as market players with business and investment experience. TTC was set up as part of a nationwide pilot project, under which the state is providing three-year funding for five universities to set up and run technology transfer companies. In this system, a basic component of the structure supporting the technology transfer process is the university-owned enterprise, which is responsible for the utilization of the RDI capacities and the intellectual creations generated in the institution, reflecting market needs and forming a bridge between the companies and the university. As a participant in the program, Semmelweis has been able to utilize intellectual property exclusively through TTC since December 2023.
“The time frames for our two main tasks are significantly different,” explained Dr. Tibor Balázs. The utilization of intellectual property is a long-term source of income that takes years to generate, with a lot of energy invested. On the other hand, with the right strategy, the market launch of university core facilities could yield visible results more quickly, even within two to three years, he stressed, adding that only the use of the spare capacities remaining beyond university teaching and research activities was an option.
“Currently, the area of medical technology offers competence that we can draw on. So, as a long-term goal, we have decided with the university’s management that it is necessary to create a medical technology competence center with the help of TTC. If anyone on the market has a medical technology development, by entering the university TTC system, we can commit to accompanying them through the entire development cycle, which can take years, including animal modeling, access to cadaveric surgery, or clinical trials,” explained the CEO. The National Center for Medical Innovation Training, which is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by 2026, will play a key role in this process, with TTC taking on the sales functions, as is the case with the future Science Park.
Dr. Tibor Balázs considers it of utmost importance that the TTC’s umbrella function allows them to represent the university in the market, thus offering a broad portfolio of services to market players, which can support development from the idea to market entry, thus providing the university with a unique competitive advantage.
From patent to market: Who and when to contact?
Researchers with a potentially marketable innovation that they want to patent should contact the Center of Science & Innovation Vice-Rector and Business Development. In this case, TTC enters the process once the University Innovation Committee has endorsed the intellectual creation. However, if a researcher possesses knowledge that they believe has commercial potential, but intellectual property protection is not a possibility, they can contact TTC directly at ttcenter@semmelweis.hu.
To promote the utilization of intellectual creations developed at the university, Dr. Tibor Balázs and his colleagues have started to review university projects, personally contacting researchers to inform them about ways of support and, if necessary, about how a stalled project can be moved forward and revised from a business point of view. “In the first round, we selected 18 promising projects from among the university innovations, some of which have already been approved by the University Innovation Committee for patent filing and are patented, and others that could go straight to market with the help of TTC, where patenting is either not possible or not necessary. These include medical devices, software (e.g. for diagnostics or image analysis), and pharmaceutical patents,” said the CEO.
The aim is to utilize the knowledge and know-how generated at the university through spin-off companies (companies licensing and utilizing intellectual property), whereby both the inventor and the university receive revenue from the commercialization in the form of royalties. In this context, one of TTC’s short-term priorities is to develop a spin-off and utilization strategy to make the process for these cases more transparent.
“We want to have as many spin-offs as possible in the long term, it’s fine if they are small; the point is to strengthen the university portfolio. It will be a huge step forward if 10-15 are created in the first year, but overall, we would need to achieve a portfolio in the hundreds within 4-5 years to generate enough revenue from utilization to be sustainable in the long term,” the CEO pointed out.
However, according to Dr. Tibor Balázs, the strong motivation and active involvement of the researcher were essential for successful utilization, as the researcher was the key player, and success could only be achieved through very close cooperation.
Pálma Dobozi
Translation: Judit Szabados-Dőtsch
Photos by Bálint Barta, Boglárka Zellei – Semmelweis University
