While U.S. research universities and medical centers continue to lead the world in biomedical innovation, there is a well-acknowledged gap between basic science and the development of real world products – a schism between the bench and the bedside. This gap is caused by a lack of access to the know-how and funding required to validate an innovation’s technical feasibility and commercial relevance, both of which are essential for translating promising discoveries into well-defined product opportunities that are attractive to the commercial ecosystem. Bridging this translational development gap requires a tailored business model that is outside the scope of what venture investors, academic institutions, and the biopharma industry are set up to do.
The IBE brings the specialized know-how and the funding required for translational development success. In addition, the IBE provides biomedical researchers and innovators with educational programs and hands-on training that will help them become more aware of how to make their discoveries end up in the marketplace.
The IBE is an independent, large-scale, project-focused “asset factory” that converts large numbers of early-stage academic innovations into well-defined, significantly de-risked commercialization opportunities. Doing this will make many more innovations attractive and available to the commercial ecosystem (industry, investors, entrepreneurs). The IBE is a lean operating company that uses disciplined processes, leverages existing resources (incubators, CROs), and taps into expert networks to work on many product opportunities in parallel, rather than trying to build one startup at a time. This project focus greatly increases success rates and objectivity.