Translating academic research into the marketplace
Prof. Gabor Forgacs
Theoretical Physicist / Bioengineer
Fork and Good, Inc.
Translating one’s academic activity into the commercial world is challenging and how to do it has no written script. The route is typically through the formation of a startup company supported by investors (e.g. venture capital firms) and involves numerous pitfalls. Academia and startups (as the first stop to the marketplace) have a number of commonalities (e.g. importance of funding and strong research). However, the weight and importance of the shared features are different.
This talk describes my journey to commercialization that started with academic research in bioprinting and its applications in the life sciences and drug development and testing, giving rise to Organovo, the first company I co-founded. Importantly, I will stress what role my physicist’s background played in this endeavor.
I will then illustrate how the successful bioprinting of human biological structures (e.g. tissues) and the subsequent realization that the technology has broad applicability beyond drug development resulted in the launching of Modern Meadow and Fork & Good, companies with focus on animal derived products, such as leather and meat, but without the need for slaughtering animals.
I will conclude with some lessons learned along the journey that hopefully could be useful for some of you, the most important being ‘thinking outside of the box’.
Hosted by Prof. Forró