PRACTICAL ACADEMICS
developing countries. The priorities the
Gates Foundation has established for its
global health care program all involve
intensive scientific research. Other leading
funding sources, both public and private,
have followed suit with targeted, results-ori-ented grants programs.
lab’s research showed that large molecules
in cartilage prevent the growth of blood
vessels, but targeted delivery of large-mole-
cule drugs was science that was new to the
world. Langer developed a novel approach
to the drug delivery quandary that was
universally rejected by many of the world’s
most renowned scientists, including two
Nobel Prize winners.
Undaunted, Langer moved to MIT,
where he found a home among an eclectic
mix of professors in the department of
applied biological sciences. In his first year
he was turned down for nine research
grants. But Langer continued with what
can only be characterized as a bold research
agenda: He created a culture in his lab that
embraced high-risk, high-impact projects.
The Langer Lab is the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world, with
approximately 100 researchers and an
annual budget in excess of $6 million.
Working at the intersection between
biotechnology and materials science, the
lab studies and develops polymers that
deliver drugs at controlled rates for prolonged periods of time. This work has
spawned myriad products and companies
including a firm that manufactures drug
inhalation products, a method for delivering drugs using microprocessors, and a
waterproof bandage inspired by the adhesive pads on a gecko’s feet.
The commercialization model for the
Langer Lab is simple, but it works. First, a
“huge” idea grows out of work in the lab.
Langer identifies and empowers an entrepreneurial champion. If the idea proves
promising and the scientific underpinnings
are solid, a “seminal paper” and a blocking
patent are prepared with the idea that the
patent is to be filed prior to publication of
the research. Although seed money to
commercialize the work is typically needed
at this stage, Langer likes to delay raising
significant capital until publication makes it
more likely that a patent will be issued. The
published paper typically generates a huge
amount of media attention and stokes
interest from venture capitalists, making
possible the capitalization of the project on
favorable terms. Depending on the nature
Qualified alumni are available to fill this [entrepreneur-in-residence] role at virtually any research university to the extent departments are willing to provide room for them.
1980 Bayh-Dole Act, federal legislation
designed to increase the number of university patents, as well as cooperation between
academia and the private sector, has had a
series of unintended consequences including
a dramatic constriction in the openness of
academic research, the subordination of the
interests of the scientist to the interests of the
institution, and an increase in the influence
of corporations and government on the kind
of work that goes on in the university.
Some of this criticism is valid, but much
of it harkens back to an earlier era. The
days when a single scientist worked alone
or with a small group over many years to
produce a body of work worthy of a
Nobel Prize are mostly past. It is clear that
funding for basic research will be increasingly difficult to obtain, and, in the future,
problem-based or applied research will be
the rule and not the exception.
The Langer Lab
What is entrepreneurial science? One of
the best examples is the Langer Lab at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and,
like virtually every entrepreneurial success
story we know of, this one begins not with
a committee or a program but with an
individual. Recently referred to as the
Thomas Edison of our generation, Bob
Langer is one of the world’s most prolific
inventors, with more than 500 patents to
his credit, and the winner of virtually every
major science prize. Educated as a chemical
engineer, he has launched more than a
dozen startup companies and more than
100 licensing deals, and the science that
underpins these commercial transactions is
stunning in its breadth and depth. But what
is most exciting about Bob Langer, and the
reason we highlight his work here, is the
complex information flow that informs his
research and enables him to focus on solu-
tions to problems that, in his own words,
will “change the world.”
Langer was more interested in solving
important problems than advancing along a
predictable career path. He finally landed a
job at a Harvard surgical research lab
engaged in studying ways to prevent the
formation of blood vessels in tumors. The
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September/October 2010
