For Industry

FAQs for Business Development and Partnering

What types of corporate partnerships or business opportunities are available at Boston Children's Hospital?

With over $225 million in annual sponsored research funding and more than 800,000 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space, Children’s Hospital is home to the world's largest and most active research enterprise at a pediatric center. Our investigators are bringing genomics, proteomics, informatics, and other cutting-edge disciplines to bear on age-old diseases, including infections, hereditary illness, congenital disorders, and cancers. The Technology and Innovation Development (TIDO) provides access to Children’s Hospital researchers and their discoveries though exclusive and non-exclusive licenses, collaboration agreements, sponsored research, and start-up creation. Also, Children’s Hospital is exploring non-traditional ways of structuring partnerships that allow for the mutual benefit of the investigator and the partnering company.

Who do I contact about business opportunities?

Call TIDO at (617) 919-3019 or email us at tido@childrens.harvard.edu

WWhat technologies does Boston Children’s Hospital have for licensing or co-development? Where can I find specific technologies?

Children’s Hospital has therapeutic, diagnostic, device, software, and research tool technologies. A searchable list of Children’s Hospital technologies available for licensing can be found here.

How mature are Boston Children’s Hospital technologies?

Children’s Hospital technologies range from conception of the idea to prototypes to human proof of concept. Recently, we launched a Technology Development Fund to advance the maturity of promising Children’s Hospital technologies and to increase the probability of commercial success.

How mature are Boston Children’s Hospital technologies?

Boston Children's Hospital has funded additional development of approximately 22 of technologies since the inception of the Technology Development Fund in 2009. Please see information about the Fund and the projects funded in 2009 and 2010.

I am an entrepreneur looking for technologies to develop from Boston Children’s. How do I find these opportunities?

Children’s Hospital offers a wide range of technologies and IP portfolios that make attractive platforms to form the basis of a spin-out company. Information about specific opportunities for in-licensing and our partnering opportunities are found here.

Licensing

Can a company gain exclusive access to Boston Children’s Hospital technologies?

Through an exclusive license agreement, a company can gain rights to a technology as well as prohibit any licensing agreements with their competitors. Some terms of exclusivity are negotiable, such as the geographic territory, field of use or indication.

How many Boston Children’s technologies are licensed?

To date, Boston Children’s has 233 actively licensed technologies.

What Boston Children's innovations are currently on the market?

Innovations that have been successfully translated into products on the market are found here.

What are the steps to license a Boston Children’s Hospital technology?

  1. Contact our office to have an introductory discussion to understand your interests, needs and goals.
  2. Exchange more information to assess whether there is a good fit (possibly under a confidentiality agreement).
  3. Negotiate a term sheet describing financial and legal terms.
  4. Negotiate the language and terms of the contract.
  5. Execute the agreement.

What are typical license terms?

Our license agreement terms follow the customary and reasonable industry standards and include the following provisions:

  1. Up-front, milestone and/or on-going royalty payments for the institution to share in the financial return from our investment.
  2. Coverage of costs related to obtaining and maintaining patents.
  3. Licensee diligence requirements to ensure that the intellectual property is optimally utilized for the benefit of patients.
  4. Reservation of the unrestricted right for investigators at Children’s Hospital to continue to use the inventions for research.
  5. Indemnification provisions to protect Boston Children’s Hospital from product liability and other claims arising from the commercialization of the technology.
  6. Other customary terms for a license.

Disease Area interest

We are looking for expertise in a specific disease area. How can we make contact with a Boston Children’s Hospital researcher?

Call or email TIDO and we can direct you to the right contact for a specific disease area. You can also search for Boston Children’s Hospital researchers working in a specific area on our partnering opportunities page.

Does Boston Children’s Hospital have technologies for adult indications?

Although we are a pediatric hospital, our research labs seek to identify factors that contribute to both childhood and adult diseases--and to develop effective treatments for them.

Contact

May I contact investigators directly?

We encourage companies to contact TIDO to talk with an investigator. We can direct you to the appropriate researcher, put the necessary agreements in place and set up a meeting. Call us today at (617) 919-3019 or email tido@childrens.harvard.edu.

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