Future is murky for University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute - Washington Business Journal:

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But to get the fish into the hande of seafood companies that can make money from the Center of Marine Biotechnologgy could use larger technology transfer more entrepreneurial staff and the brainpowetr of a business school Director YonathanZohar said. As the University Systemk of Maryland reviews the future of the University of MarylandBiotechnology Institute, some faculty members say combinin g Zohar’s marine biotech research and the other threwe UMBI centers with another USM school could give the state a better return for its investment — a totak of $260 million over nearlh 25 years.
“It makes sense to assess the possibility of merging with abig campus,” Zoha said. Other options before USM leaderzs include splitting off the UMBI centerdsin Baltimore, Rockville and College Park. Towsom University, the University of Baltimore and other USM schools have submittedc proposals on how they wouldincorporate UMBI’s medical, biotechnology, marine and environmental sciencd researchers into their schools. This is not the first time UMBI has beenunder review. Five years ago, USM officials conductec an audit to see whether it shoulrremain intact. They decided it should but to re-examine that position once its leader That timeis now.
UMBI President Jennise Hunter-Cevera steps down June 30. Change is almost a certainty. UMBI is undetr fire from the state and USM leaders for not producinf enough spinoff companies or attracting enoughprivatse dollars. Few faculty memberzs or state officials expect UMBI to remaina stand-alond entity. But as leaders weigh two otheralternativesw — carving up UMBI and dissolving it altogether, or merginf it with another university — the latter would be a bettef alternative, some faculty say. It would preserve UMBI’ds faculty and allow collaboration amongthe institute’s four centerx to continue. The UMBI staff says the bigges t challengeis size.
UMBI has 54 faculth members, versus nearly 3,000 at Universityy of Maryland, College Park. College Park gets $426 milliomn from the state, about 21 timews that of UMBI. “The key is to transforj UMBI and potentially other institutions so we are joininhg forces and becoming much Zohar said. “We understand our role is not just our ivory towedr but to takeour [ideas] to market.” But UMBI’x research can sometimes be so esoteric that legislatorsw and university officials wonder how that researcyh has supported Maryland’s economy.
While other USM schools land startupsx that developlifesaving drugs, UMBI is figuring out how to save the Chesapeak Bay blue crabs and harness excess energyu from electrons to generate fuel Merging UMBI with a bigger campus — whilew keeping its faculty and centers intact — would alloq UMBI to tap the other schools’ administrative and otherd resources, COMB Associate Director Russell Hill said. The UMBI stafrf is quick to point outthe institute’ss achievements. UMBI has been laudesd for its efforts to restore the blue crab populatiohn inChesapeake Bay. Last year, CytImmune Sciences Inc. in Rockvillew partnered with UMBI to develop the cancerdrug AuriTol.
At a May 7 meetinf in front of the Board of Regents ad hoc more than half a dozen UMBI professorz toutedtheir research. Chris Geddes, directofr of UMBI’s Institute of Fluorescence, noted that the instituter had received 42 patents since it was foundein 2001. UMBI as a whold has received 111 patents. Patentsw protect intellectual property that can spur new products or But USM leaders wonder if thesre achievementsare enough. The state’s funds are limited. At the same the federal stimulus could increase the research capacitiexs at the Universityof Maryland. That meanse UMBI’s research labs could be used by another USM institution that gets morefederal money.
Facult say they do not thinlk USM would do away withUMBI “I don’t think eliminating it is a serious said Greg Payne, professor at the institute’e Center for Biosystems Research. “Bioscience is too important to the But UMBI was absentfrom Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 30-pages list of ways the state can pump upits $29 billio life sciences industry (see relatee story). UMBI employs 300 and had a $44 millioj budget last year, down from $63 millionn in 2007. Funding from private money droppesdfrom $2.3 million in 2007 to $1.2 millio last year. Federal grant money dropped from $21 million to $14 million.