The Entrepreneurial Physiologist

The Entrepreneurial Physiologist

The skill sets of researchers can translate to a successful and meaningful business career.
By Brian Busenbark

As he was working toward his doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at the California Institute of Technology, Oliver Losón, PhD, planned to pursue a career in academia, with ambitions of heading a research laboratory focused on studying disease. 

“But somewhere along the way during my graduate work, I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug,” says Losón, who ended up working in Caltech’s Office of Technology Transfer, where he oversaw intellectual property, licensing and entrepreneurship. Today, Losón is vice president of business operations at Holoclara Inc., a company developing therapeutics to treat allergy and autoimmune diseases. “More than anything, I was excited by the idea of translating the work being done in an academic laboratory or discovery setting to the clinic with real-world applications.”

Losón is not alone. A 2021 analysis conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics shows the percentage of academic-owned utility patents has steadily increased over the past several years and is nearly double the rate from a decade ago.

Physiologists looking to join those ranks face a variety of challenges, including funding their projects, carving out the time to push their entrepreneurial ventures forward and navigating the maze of legal and logistical hurdles. The good news: Achieving entrepreneurial success is closer than you may realize.

Protect Your Intellectual Property

Success in the business world and academia is dictated by many of the same skill sets. “There’s a lot of overlap,” says Losón, a past APS Porter Fellow. “As scientists, we’re trained to be thoughtful, gather the facts, assess what the data is telling us and determine next steps. In many ways, entrepreneurship isn’t too different.”

For those in academia, the resources necessary to get the ball rolling are often not far away. Most major research institutions have technology transfer offices (known as TTOs) or technology licensing offices (called TLOs), which function as liaisons between academic research and industry. Though they can take on a variety of names, the primary purpose of these departments is to help facilitate the commercialization of research that takes place at the institution. 

One of a TTO’s foremost responsibilities is helping an inventor protect their intellectual property by guiding them through the patent process. In fact, it’s the first conversation a scientist should have once they’ve determined that their invention or idea is novel and has potential commercial usefulness.

“Don’t publish papers, don’t present it at a meeting, don’t do anything that someone could go back and say it’s already in the public domain,” says Robert Hester, PhD, FAPS, APS president-elect, Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professor of Physiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and founder of HC Simulation LLC, a company that develops physiological simulation models.

From there, a provisional patent is typically filed. This ensures the owner has patentability for a year should there be a public disclosure or subsequent similar invention produced. During this one-year period, the institution will likely conduct a more thorough examination of the invention’s commercialization potential. Meanwhile, the inventor should continue to advance the idea or invention to prepare for a non-provisional patent application.

If a U.S. patent is awarded, the holder typically has exclusive rights to the production and sale of an invention for 20 years. The inventor then has the option to license their patent to another individual or company. The process of assessing the market value of a license and negotiating its sale typically requires further assistance from the inventor’s TTO, attorney or other entrepreneurial consultants.

Seek Out Help

Leveraging the connections and relationships already established on—or around—a research institution is critical to advancing an idea or invention toward commercial viability.

The University of California (UC) San Diego’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization puts a twist on introducing its researchers to industry leaders. “They organize a sort of ‘Shark Tank’ event, where they bring in patent lawyers, venture capitalists and people from different areas of the biotech and pharma communities for investigators to present their ideas,” says Farah Sheikh, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “You’re able to get some positive feedback through this effort and really learn what they want to see to move the technology forward.” 

Many universities also house entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) programs to help support research-based entrepreneurship. There, EIR experts provide inventors with industry-informed experience on commercialization strategies and can assist in building business models, fundraising techniques and other common business challenges. 

And for scientists like Hester—who didn’t have access to these types of programs when he sought to market software he was developing—a nearby business college can be a valuable resource. “There’s a small college here, Millsaps College, with a business school, and one of their faculty had done intellectual property work before,” Hester says. “He told me all the things I needed to do and is actually still on my board of directors.”

Determine the Right Path

For Sheikh, the decision to pursue entrepreneurism was personal. She was already researching the genes associated with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a rare genetic disorder that can lead to sudden cardiac death in young, otherwise healthy individuals, when someone close to her was diagnosed with the disease. “It was at that moment that I realized I really needed to move this research beyond just understanding the biology and toward a therapeutic,” Sheikh says. 

She determined that commercializing her work—and forging partnerships with experienced entrepreneurs who could help her navigate that path—was the most efficient route to patient therapy. She founded a startup company, ARVC Therapeutics Inc., which later emerged as Stelios Therapeutics Inc. and was ultimately acquired by LEXEO Therapeutics, a clinical-stage genetic medicine company.

Leveraging the experience of seasoned entrepreneurs and the resources of larger, established companies has allowed Sheikh’s research to rapidly progress toward clinical application. Her ARVC therapy is currently in human Phase 1/2 clinical trials, a milestone achieved much more quickly than if she attempted to go it alone. LEXEO’s recent initial public offering ensures that her work will continue to have the necessary funding behind it. “The IPO will help bolster some of the clinical trials that will be important for moving my therapeutic forward,” she says.

Importantly for Sheikh, she maintains a close collaboration with LEXEO on the work that remains meaningful to her. But that arrangement may not work for everyone. Fortunately, the various paths to exploring entrepreneurship—or to not go that route at all—give physiologists a wide array of options. Some areas to consider include:

Goals. What do you want to accomplish? How will commercializing your idea or invention help you reach your goals?

Time. Starting and maintaining a business venture requires more time than most people think. Do you have the bandwidth? Determine how involved you want to be, understanding that the business will take you away from other endeavors. “If you’re really intellectually curious and you like to be working on lots of different projects, that’s harder to do in a startup or company setting, as they require focus to maximize efficiency and capital,” Losón says.

Organization. It’s important to determine what type of entrepreneurism best suits your personality, involvement level and goals for your work. Assess the strengths and attributes of potential partners, identifying traits that complement yours, and partners who can manage pieces of the business you are not as well-suited for. 

Finances. How will the business be funded? Ensure your personal finances can withstand the pressures of starting a new venture. “In a company, be aware that you probably will be the last person to be paid a salary,” Hester says.

Logistics. Things like health insurance, facilities and how part-time hours may affect your standing at your institution must all be taken into consideration.

Benefits of Business Run Deep

Donning the entrepreneur hat often requires you to practice different skills and to take time away from your base work. At the same time, it can make you a better scientist overall. Managing a business requires strong time and project management skills. While you are likely accustomed to selling the value of your ideas to obtain grants, securing investors is a different animal—and typically will require results on a much shorter timeline than a grant would.

Of course, the financial benefits of scientific entrepreneurism can be substantial. But what drives many physiologists who take their ideas and inventions to market is unquantifiable.

“There’s nothing more gratifying than watching something that you discovered or invented go from an academic setting to the bedside,” Losón says. “Seeing something that you’ve been working on and is helping people with disease or the like—there’s nothing like that.

This article was originally published in the July 2024 issue of The Physiologist Magazine. Copyright © 2024 by the American Physiological Society. Send questions or comments to tphysmag@physiology.org.