IU hopes firm will help strengthen research

IU officials said they hope the University's agreement last week with the company BioCrossroads will improve the transition from lab research to practical business applications for life sciences. \nBioCrossroads and IU will bring in Cynthia Helphingstine as a transitional scientific officer to ensure that work done in the lab is commercialized effectively in the marketplace. The goal is to take IU discoveries that might not have a clear marketability in the lab and get them realized and developed, said Jenny Siminski, BioCrossroads marketing director. \nIU President Adam Herbert said there will be great benefits that will come from the BioCrossroads partnership. \n"We are creating a means by which IU faculty and staff may realize the full potential of their scholarly work," Herbert said in a statement. "This initiative will bring long-term benefits to both Indiana University and the entire state. We have many life sciences research projects under way with the potential to produce significant new medicines and treatments for human health." \nThe agreement with BioCrossroads looks to supplement the work already being done by the IU Research & Technology Corporation located in Bloomington and Indianapolis. The IURTC stimulates growth in Indiana's technology sectors by helping companies develop commercially viable technology with the ultimate goal of creating jobs and growing the state's economy, according to their Web site. \nDr. Helphingstine was the CEO of Tienta Sciences and president of Biotron Group Inc., a consulting firm she founded to help health care and biotechnology companies understand and profit from changing markets and technologies. \n"This is a relatively new position," Siminski said. "It will build upon the life sciences plan in the medical school and in the Bloomington campus." \nHelphingstine will work as a facilitator to bring together scientists, the business world and IU administration. She will work with deans and administrators as well as technology-based economic and venture capitalist organizations. \nIndiana is a particularly strong state in life sciences, ranking in the top four states in number and concentration of jobs, according to a report last month by the Biotechnology Industry Organization and Battelle Memorial Institute. \n"IU has one of the nation's top biology and chemistry departments," Siminski said. "Their research is on the cutting edge and getting the information out there will help the health of Hoosiers and Indiana as a whole."\nBioCrossroads was started in 2002 as a privately funded organization that is dedicated to fully leveraging Indiana's existing world-class life science assets in order to create new jobs and spur new business opportunities in Indiana, according to their Web site. \nHerbert said he acknowledged the importance of this agreement in Indiana's development. \n"As we bring these discoveries to market through Indiana-based companies," Herbert said in a statement. "We will be strengthening the state economy and hastening the establishment of a robust life sciences corridor in our state"