NEED FOR COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN DRUG DISCOVERY - Collaborative Computational Technologies for Biomedical Research - page 6

from the semiconductor industry. Science-based businesses face unique chal-
lenges not present in these other industries, and the focus on monetization of
intellectual property, rather than products or services, has actually been detri-
mental to the creation of the collaborative network envisioned by the early
pioneers of the biotechnology movement. Specifi cally, this misaligned focus
has led to (1) the creation of numerous information silos and barriers to
sharing—a key requirement for collaboration, (2) fragmentation of the indus-
try and duplication of noncompetitive activities, and (3) a proliferation of new
fi rms competing for resources from a limited pool [5].

1.1.3 Brief History of Government - Funded Academic Drug Discovery

In 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act was enacted with the intention to stimulate phar-
maceutical research into key disease areas by allowing academic institutions
as well as individual researchers to benefi t directly from commercialization of
their government-funded research efforts. Although greatly criticized as a
mechanism that promotes science with no direct market relevance [6],
government-funded research spending is signifi cant and increasing. Across the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), a number of “center grants” have been
awarded over the last several years to build out the necessary infrastructure
to power an academic revolution. Examples of the types of work being sup-
ported are as follows: (1) Burnham was awarded a $98 million grant to estab-
lish one of four comprehensive national screening centers as part of the NIH's,
Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network (MLPCN); (2) 83
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)-funded Centers of
Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) have been awarded two consecu-
tive, fi ve-year, $10 million grants; (3) Northwestern is awarded $11 million to
create a Center to Speed Drug Discovery (Northwestern); and (4) a grant from
the NIH will help establish the Chicago Tri-Institutional Center for Chemical
Methods and Library Development. The NIH will pump $62 million into more
than 20 studies focused on using epigenomics to understand how environmen-
tal factors, aging, diet, and stress infl uence human disease.
In 2008, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) alone funded research efforts
in excess of $12 billion. More recently, the NCI has been funding efforts that
would increase the value of academic research through the creation of public-
private partnerships to translate knowledge from academia into new drug
treatments. To this end, the NCI has established the Chemical Biology
Consortium, which is advertised as an integrated network of chemical biolo-
gists, molecular oncologists, and chemical screening centers. Current members
of the consortium include. The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina; Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, California;
Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Alabama; Emory University in
Atlanta; Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; the University of
Minnesota in St. Paul and Minneapolis; the University of Pittsburgh and the
University of Pittsburgh Drug Discovery Institute; Vanderbilt University