Assisting a funded project through the next steps of commercialization is the objective of ITN and our seed grant program. An interesting meeting in the healthcare space took place recently when ITN hosted a small gathering of business professionals, a faculty project leader funded by ITN, and their corporate partner. Project participants were looking for input and possible road blocks on future funding, feedback on the business model and guidance on intellectual property. Our industry connections allowed ITN to pull together business executives from the life sciences, medical, legal, investment, and economic development sectors as a sounding board for the project team.

Steve Hulse of JPL talks with JoAnn Lawer of Lancaster General Hospital

As is usually the case, the draft business model initiated more questions than answers, focusing on which end-users would be willing to part with cash for the product and the true value-add to a customer. It was clear that innovation in healthcare can be a tricky ride as companies try to navigate the HIPPA and new technology guidelines. With input from those in medical and healthcare education, the conversation turned to opportunities around licensing, product integration and/or tweaking the existing concept to target a different set of customers.

Mel Billingsley (left) of the Life Sciences Greenhouse, Alan Snyder of Penn State Hershey Medical Center, and Eric Darr of Harrisburg University.

This type of engagement between faculty and corporate project teams is invaluable to those immersed in development. The discussion allows the team to consider additional issues around realistic sales channels, legal concerns, and business development questions before they head too far down the road and it’s painful to turn around. It was a great example of the willingness of the business community here to support new business ideas and the entrepreneurial activity created when faculty and small business connect.

Whether the team decides to ditch the project completely, dig deeper into the market to find answers, or alter their current strategy, this type of discussion is worth hitting the brakes for a 90 minute time investment to support business innovation. At the end of the day we’ll either have a new company, a new division, a new product (or some variation of the three) or smarter executives and faculty primed for the next opportunity. Either way, the road ahead looks promising.