About Research Corporation Technologies
Research Corporation Technologies played an early role in the commercial success of some of today’s important pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and biotechnology products. By the early 1990s, the company’s patent management and licensing services had brought about development of the blockbuster cisplatin and carboplatin anticancer drugs, the PSA blood test for prostate cancer, technetium-99-based imaging agents, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and nonimmunogenic delivery of protein-based drugs, among others.
During 1992, RCT learned that the Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, Okla., was divesting various business groups, one that included the Pichia Yeast Protein Expression System. The sale of these assets included the patents and patent applications controlling use of the Pichia expression technologies, all the know-how associated with the system, a group of nonexclusive licenses and all the biological materials necessary to practice protein expression in Pichia. In 1993, Phillips organized a Pichia Review meeting in Breckenridge, Colo., to present their offering to more than 50 interested groups.
Following this meeting, RCT was confident the Pichia technology offered a unique opportunity for companies to manufacture pharmaceutical and industrial proteins at high yields and low costs. Also, the breadth of the Phillips patent estate protecting the Pichia system was unique. Not only would it protect the technology completely, but also most importantly, it would provide future licensees with a comprehensive license to all components needed to use the Pichia expression technologies. This fit RCT’s business plan perfectly.
In September 1993, RCT purchased all the assets of the Pichia technologies from Phillips. Phillips assigned all patents and pending patent applications to RCT and transferred all biological materials to RCT’s control. Concurrently, RCT began its long-term relationship with Invitrogen Corp., in Carlsbad, Calif., as its exclusive licensee to sell the RCT Pichia materials to researchers worldwide.
With Invitrogen’s introduction of the Pichia materials, RCT began worldwide licensing of the Pichia expression technologies. RCT offers all commercial users a one-year evaluation period to use the system in their own laboratories. RCT’s flexible nonexclusive licensing program includes licenses for commercial use and sales, and licenses for commercial research and in-house development. These licenses have various fees and royalty rates that are tailored to different business plans, such as pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, industrial enzymes, animal health products and reagents.
Today, the Pichia system is one of the standard technologies in use for making recombinant protein and is especially successful for large scale (fermentation) recombinant protein production. RCT has licensed the system to more than 120 companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, animal health and food industries.
