UVa innovation chief sees region's future as 'extremely promising'

W. Mark Crowell on May 26 became the University of Virginia’s first executive director and associate vice president for innovation partnerships and commercialization.

In his newly created post, Crowell is responsible for boosting UVa’s corporate, private and government partnerships, as well as ramping up the university community’s licensing, entrepreneurship and commercialization of research.

The Daily Progress recently asked Crowell to give his take on the state of the local biotechnology industry and the challenges it faces. What follows is an edited transcript of his responses.

 Q: How would you characterize the status of the biotechnology industry’s development in the Charlottesville region?

A: I would characterize the biotechnology cluster in Charlottesville as strong, evolving and extremely promising. There have been notable success stories in this region in terms of company creation, growth, acquisition, strategic partnering, product development and market impact, setting a strong foundation for continued growth and impact of companies in this cluster.

As UVa continues to build upon its basic and translational research successes, to promote an innovation culture on Grounds, and to engage more strategically in innovation-based business development, the biotechnology industry in the Charlottesville region should become even more robust in terms of company creation, new jobs, new products and services, investment and economic impact.

Q: What exactly is your primary mission in your new role at UVa?

A: Innovation-based economic development happens best when there is a strong university pipeline of research and development nearby; it works even better when that university has a strong commitment to innovation-based business development and to effective partnering within a strong and growing ecosystem of business-development, financial, entrepreneurial, government and nonprofit innovation partners.

The creation of the new post, which I occupy, is tangible evidence of UVa’s commitment to translate its innovation and research assets in ways which create value — for companies which we help to start, for existing private sector and government partners with whom we collaborate and for society at large.

My mission is focused on developing the infrastructure, the culture, the resources, the partnerships and the vision for effective innovation and knowledge transfer at UVa.

Q: Looking ahead five or 10 years, how do you think you’ll judge whether you’ve been successful in your new position?

A: I think I’d look at several factors — both quantitative and thus easier to assess; and qualitative, which, of course, are far more difficult to document.

Five to 10 years out — on the more quantitative side of the innovation impact discussion — I would hope to see such things as more UVa-affiliated startup companies, with related increases in new jobs and investment capital; certainly more license agreements for university intellectual property; more basic and translational research partnerships for UVa with the private and nonprofit sectors; more quality intellectual property portfolios being managed within the university; more faculty and students participating in innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives on Grounds and in the region; and increased economic impact of UVa innovation assets.

On the more qualitative side of the discussion, I would hope that it would be obvious that the innovation and entrepreneurial culture at UVa is among the most sophisticated and successful in the world.

I’d like to see evidence that innovation and entrepreneurship are taught more robustly, rewarded more aggressively and celebrated more widely.

I hope to be able to show evidence that UVa is a “preferred partner” for key industry, investment and nonprofit funding entities interested in research and innovation impact.

Success could be indicated by a growing presence of service sector entities required to support and nurture a robust ecosystem of innovation-based enterprise development — patent attorneys, venture capitalists, entrepreneurial management support entities and related entities.

Q: You’ve been credited as an architect of the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, helping to link researchers at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with the venture community. Do you think such a success story is possible here? How big of a role do you think biotech should play?

A: Every institution and every region is unique — in resources, in culture, in determining its vision for engagement and impact in the entrepreneurial “space.” Thus, it’s important to note that success here is not simply a matter of replicating those things that worked well in Research Triangle Park.

That said, I strongly believe that innovation-based economic development can be successful here — producing positive impact and dividends for the university, for local and regional businesses, for the citizens of our region and for our economy.

Given the significant strengths that already exist at UVa and in the Charlottesville region in biotechnology research, in biotechnology business development, and in partnerships with the biotechnology-related innovation ecosystem (public and private), I believe that biotech must be a core component of our economic development strategy.

Q: What do you see as some of the weaknesses of the region’s current biotechnology sector?

A: On the “weakness” or “threats” front, I’d mention the lack of institutional venture capital, particularly large, institutional venture firms that specialize in biotech (biotechnology takes VERY deep-pocketed investors with long-term return horizons, and this region is short of that type of capital); the lack of experienced entrepreneurs who have successfully built companies and raised capital in the biotech space (again, this is improving but remains a challenge in my opinion); the availability of affordable wet lab accelerator space with access to shared core facilities, experienced management, and related resources and expertise geared to facilitate the growth and evolution of biopharma companies; and, of course, the increasing competition for a flattening (or potentially shrinking) supply of research funds.

Basic research remains the seed corn for growing and sustaining a robust ecosystem of innovation and enterprise, and translational research resources are the critical catalyst for supporting proof-of-concept and “de-risking” development needed to make basic discoveries more “market- or clinic-ready.”

Q: Are there measures that Charlottesville-area localities could be undertaking to better support the biotech industry? What about the state government?

A: Successful measures which regions and states should consider include tax credits for angel investments and for early research and development costs incurred by startup companies; matching fund programs for startup companies that compete successfully for peer-reviewed funding, or for institutional investments (such as major venture funds); support for business accelerator facilities specializing in biotech business development; initiatives to provide entrepreneurship training and networking for biotech executives; [and] biotech training for public school and community college instructors to ensure that proper attention is being paid to issues related to work force needs of biotech companies.