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Patrick McManamny, Senior Associate
The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, is one of Australia’s leading medical research organisations . Garvan has research programs in several areas including neurodegeneration, diabetes and obesity, inflammation, cancer and antibody technologies. I was recently seconded to Garvan for several months to assist their Business Development (BD) team.
Garvan’s BD team takes a proactive approach to managing its intellectual property portfolio to increase the likelihood of delivering commercial and strategic outcomes for the Institute. These commercial outcomes add value in the context of the Institute’s current and future research directions, enabling an allocation of resources to fresh discoveries leading to new intellectual property with potential for achieving important research outcomes. More importantly, the results increase the likelihood of delivering new therapeutics and diagnostics for the community.
During my secondment, I was involved in the following activities:
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Contribution to the implementation of Garvan’s intellectual management strategy;
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Assistance in strategic commercial intelligence gathering to identify both potential commercial partners and research partners;
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Working with the business development managers to identify new research projects that might provide commercial benefit for the Institute;
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Assistance in planning research projects to increase their attractiveness and thus the likelihood of partnership with third parties; and
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Assistance in managing ongoing relationships with partners, including pharma and large biotech companies and research institutes.
Another important facet of my time at Garvan was the opportunity to gain an insight into the inner workings of the BD team who face many competing demands in their efforts to achieve good commercial outcomes for the Institute. Not only do they look externally for new partnerships, but they also look internally at ways they can assist researchers, for example by obtaining research reagents or by providing educational seminars.
The secondment honed my ability to communicate key IP issues in a concise, cost-effective and timely manner and importantly gave me an insight into the skills required to manage post-contractual obligations with pharma and biotech companies. This ensures that the Institute is able to make informed decisions regarding their intellectual property, maximising their chances of delivering commercial and strategically sound outcomes.
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