UNM Research Gains Ground in Marketplace

Take this, bad bacteria! Coming down the technology transfer pipeline is a low-cost nontoxic product that could knock out 99.9999 percent of bacteria and take out a toxic chemical that is the main ingredient in today’s antimicrobial products.

University of New Mexico and University of Florida researchers together have developed the product that uses plastic-like compounds — found in polymers and oligomers — to trap and kill bacteria.

Its commercialization, being pursued by Oligocide Inc., a local startup that recently signed a 20-year exclusive lease with the universities, could be an amazing tool for the health care industry in its ongoing battle against bacterial borne diseases.

It’s just one example of UNM’s efforts to marry the scientific breakthroughs and inventions of its staff with the private sector.

The university’s Science and Technology Corp. office reported a record number of new technologies shared by faculty in fiscal year 2012, which ended June 30. That included a 50 percent increase in biomedical, or life science breakthroughs.

The STC’s pipeline of potentially marketable inventions, plus aggressive efforts to recruit entrepreneurs to develop and market them, has led to a record 46 marketing licenses acquired by investors in FY 2012 and seven new startup companies formed last year based on UNM inventions.

Since 2004, more than 50 startup companies have formed to market UNM technologies. Last year the university earned $2.92 million in income from licenses and patents. And since FY 2010, UNM has earned $11.3 million. In addition to the intrinsic value of these inventions, the return on taxpayers’ investment for research at the state’s flagship university is paying off in dollars, business, job creation and a better society.

And that’s a powerful shot to New Mexico’s economy.