Unicamp - Press Room - Unicamp Newspaper

Patents and partnerships
increase revenue

CLAYTON LEVY

A Unicamp's Innovation Agency (Inova), intends to license 25 new patents in 2005. According to the director of intellectual property, Rosana Ceron di Giorgio. Judging by the results obtained in just the first year of activities, the expectation is far from being an exaggeration. From January to October of this year, contracts were signed that resulted in the licensing of 23 patents for the development of products by private companies. Currently, at least another 15 patents are in the negotiation process.

The agreements provide for the commercial exploitation of the technology for a period of between 10 and 15 years. According to Rosana, each contract should generate an average of R$200 per year in royalties for the University. The expectation is that, from the fifth year onwards, revenue from royalties generated from these agreements will reach R$14 million per year. At the end of five years, Unicamp wants to reach a portfolio with 100 licenses, which would elevate the institution to the level of major universities in the world.

Signing of a contract with the company Steviafarma: supply of herbal medicines for hormone replacement

Unicamp's basic remuneration for the assignment of the intellectual property of the invention derives from royalties. The percentages, says Rosana, vary from 2% to 7% and affect gross and net revenue. “It depends on each case,” she says. Audits are planned for all contracts to check financial information relating to the marketing of the product. The distribution of resources is done as follows: one third of the revenue is paid to the researcher or group of researchers and two thirds go to Unicamp. The deadlines for developing products after signing agreements depend on the area.

Alongside the level of excellence achieved in the areas of teaching and research, Unicamp has stood out each year for the volume of partnerships established with private companies and public bodies. In the period from 2001 to 2003 alone, the institution established 527 agreements, which generated revenue of around R$85,5 million. One of the highlights was the University’s role in the Genome Program. The institution organized and coordinated the sequencing of the bacterium Xyllela fastidiosa, which causes the “yellow plague”, a disease that affects 30% of orange groves in São Paulo. As a consequence, researchers at Unicamp were pioneers in the formation of new bioinformatics and applied genomics companies, including Scyla Bioinformática (www.scylla.com.br) and Alellyx Applied Genomics (www.alellyx.com.br).

Discover licensed companies
and patent authors

Steviafarma (Paraná, Maringá)
A patent on a soy-based technology. This technology is well suited to Brazil, which is a large producer and exporter of soybeans. Through the partnership with Steviafarma, the company will be innovating with the supply of herbal medicines for hormone replacement and combating free radicals.
Authors: Yong Kun Park, Adilma Regina Pippa Scamparini, Hélia Harumi Sato and Severino Matias de Alencar.
Unity: Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA).

Cristália (São Paulo, SP)
Two patents on anesthetics. These cutting-edge technologies will enable Cristália to generate products with innovative features. Its new formulations will have lower toxicity and a longer duration of effect than those presented on the market.
Authors: Eneida de Paula, Cíntia Maria Saia Cereda, Daniele Ribeiro de Araújo, Giovana Bruschini Brunetto, Leonardo Fernades Fraceto, Rafael Vanini, Marcelo Bispo de Jesus. Antonio Carlos Senjes Lino, Luciana de Matos Alves Pinto and Yuji Takahata
Unity: Institute of Biology (IB).

Scitech (São Paulo, SP)
Six patents containing formulations applicable to stent coatings. “Stents” are devices inserted into veins or arteries through angioplasty surgeries, with the aim of unblocking them. These formulations have proven effectiveness in preventing the so-called “restenosis”, a cellular reproduction that occurs after the insertion of the “stent”, which obstructs the blood vessel again.
Authors: Marcelo Ganzarolli de Oliveira, Amedea Barozzi Seabra, Sílvia Mika Shishido, Watson Loh, Francisco Rafael Martins Laurindo and Jarbas José Rodrigues Rohwedder
Unity: Institute of Chemistry (IQ).

Usina São Francisco S/A (Sertãozinho, SP)
A patent relating to the process of obtaining sugarcane wax from the cake resulting from sugarcane processing. The pie wax, purely vegetable, will allow Usina São Francisco to innovate in several markets, such as cosmetics, cleaning products, pharmaceuticals and food.
Authors: Daniel Barrera Arellano and Thais Maria Ferreira de Souza Vieira.
Unity: Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA)

DLE - Diagnostics Laboratoriais Especializados Ltda (Rio de Janeiro – RJ)
Two patents, relating to the diagnostic test method for congenital deafness. This technology will enable the DLE, in a simple and inexpensive way, to predict a certain type of deafness in newborns caused by a genetic defect. Deafness manifests progressively after birth, and early diagnosis gives parents and doctors time to take steps for the child to learn to speak and, possibly, read and write. In adults, this technology can identify carriers and predict the chance of having children with this genetic problem.
Author Edi Lúcia Sartorato.
Unity: CBMEG.

Feldmann Wild Leitz Comércio Importação e Exportação Ltda (Manaus, Amazon)
Two patents relating to the molecular diagnostic kit for congenital deafness. Feldmann will manufacture and sell such kits for laboratories that are using the congenital deafness test, developed at Unicamp.
Author Edi Lúcia Sartorato
Unity: CBMEG.

TechFilter Indústria e Comércio Ltda (Indaiatuba, SP)
Eight patents on a system for use in the environmental area, in the treatment of effluents from various industries, such as: paper and cellulose, chemistry, petrochemicals, textiles, metal mechanics, fertilizers, jewelry, semi-jewelry and explosives.
Authors: Ronaldo Teixeira Pelegrini, Rodnei Bertazzoli, Rosângela Rodrigues LemePellegrino, Rosana Aparecida Di Iglia and Peterson Bueno de Moraes.
Unity: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM).

Safe Kid Indústria e Comércio Ltda (Senador Canedo, Goiás)
A patent dedicated to a safety system applied to automobiles, for the safe transport of children, the elderly or disabled people. Subjected to quality tests by the team at Unicamp's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, this system will allow Safe Kid to produce products with a much higher degree of reliability and safety than existing ones.
Authors: Antonio Celso Fonseca de Arruda and Peixoto Bueno de Camargo.
Unity: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM).

TechChrom Analytical Instruments Ltda (Campinas, SP)
A patent on a system intended for the automation of chemical analysis, to carry out the controlled transfer of liquids or solids between containers. This system will guarantee TechChrom highly accurate performance. The system is robust, versatile, easy to operate and effectively cost-effective, in addition to being unprecedented and imposing advantages over existing systems, resulting in a highly reliable device.
Authors: Célio Pasquini and Ildenize Barbosa Da Silva Cunha.
Unity: Institute of Chemistry (IQ).

The objective is to increase licensing

Unicamp already has around 300 patents registered with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), but every year, according to Rosana, on average another 50 are filed. The idea is to increasingly increase the licensing of patents registered by the university. This new stance, according to Rosana, is fundamental to the country's technological innovation process. According to data from the book “Indicators of Science, Technology and Innovation in Brazil”, organized by economist Eduardo Viotti and recently published by Editora da Unicamp, from 1981 to 2000, the number of scientific articles published by national authors increased by 400%, from 1.889 to 9.511. Despite the numerical evolution in national scientific production, in 2000 only 98 Brazilian patents were registered in the United States, while South Korea, which has scientific production equivalent to Brazil's, registered 3,3 in the same period. In other words, Brazil already knows how to do science, but has not yet learned how to transform it into economic growth.

In the 90s, Brazilian universities filed 355 patent applications with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Unicamp was the one with the most registrations, 125. Next come the University of São Paulo (USP), with 76 deposits, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), with 39, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), 31, and Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), 13 requests. These five institutions hold 80% of the total patent applications originating from universities, according to data collection and analysis organized by economist Eduardo Assumpção, from INPI, in the study “The Patent System and Brazilian Universities in the 90s”.

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