Putting Innovation to Work: Where to, U.S.

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Putting Innovation to WorkWhere to, U.S.?
Mary WoolleyPresident, Research!America The
Venture Forum May 30, 2008 Santa Clara, CA
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• Research!America and the venture community share
  a commitment to putting U.S. innovation to work.
• We also share the concern that innovation is at
  risk.

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Research!America 19 Years of Putting Research on
the Public Agenda

• Non-profit alliance with 500 member organizations
  drawn from academia, business, patient
  organizations and scientific societies
  representing more than 125 million Americans
• Distinguished, all-volunteer board includes
  former elected and appointed officials, media and
  public relations leaders, and leaders from
  alliance member organizations

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Research!America Board of Directors(a sampling)

• The Hon. John Edward Porter, Chair
• The Hon. Paul G. Rogers, Chair Emeritus
• William A. Peck, MD, Vice Chair
• Mary Woolley, President
• Georges C. Benjamin, MD, Secretary
• Mary J.C. Hendrix, PhD, Treasurer
• Dennis A. Ausiello, MD
• Harry Johns
• Evan Jones
• Darrell G. Kirch, MD
• Alan I. Leshner, PhD
• Mark McClellan, MD, PhD
• Herbert Pardes, MD
• John R. Seffrin, PhD
• Randolph Siegel
• The Hon. Louis Stokes
• The Hon. Billy Tauzin
• Christopher A. Viehbacher

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Select Research!America Accomplishments

• Leadership in doubling the National Institutes of
  Health budget (1999-2003)
• Leadership in public opinion polling on medical
  and health research
• Leadership in message development for research
  advocacy
• Leadership in media attention to research
• Leadership internationally to spur advocacy for
  research

Research!America is an innovator in public
education and advocacy for research
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You can change the image of things to come. But
you cant do it sitting on your hands reach out
to Congress and build bridges. The Honorable
John Edward Porter, Research!America Board Chair
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• The World Economic Forum ranked the United States
  the worlds most competitive economy
• The U.S. holds the top spot for innovation
  overall, for industry-university research
  collaboration, and for its ability to attract
  global talent

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• The Economists 2007 World in Figures ranks the
  U.S. 14th for the extent to which government
  policies are conducive to competitiveness

Is this a portent of bad news to come?
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U.S. Investment in Health RD
Tracking Spending by Sector
in millions
Source Research!America, Investment in U.S.
Health Research 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
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• Funding for NIH is a key element of U.S.
  investment in health research, both in real
  dollars and as a stimulus for private-sector
  investment and philanthropic research funding
• In 2005, NIH could afford to only fund one in
  every five proposals. As if in concert, other
  sources of funding, including industry RD, are
  slowing as well

Source Research!America, Investment in U.S.
Health Research 2005
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Promoting innovation SBIR AND STTR
Set-aside programs established by Congress in
1982 (SBIR) and 1992 (STTR) to stimulate
innovation, increase private sector
commercialization, encourage participation of
minority and underrepresented persons in
innovation and foster collaboration between small
business and academia.
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Threats to innovation Challenges to SBIR and
STTR (1)

• In 2003, SBA changed requirements for SBIR grants
  limiting eligibility to biotech companies with
  less than 50 venture capital ownership
• As a result, applications from biotech companies
  declined
• In 2005, the Save America's Biotechnology
  Innovative Research (SABIR) Act would have
  restored eligibility, but the bill stalled in
  Congressional committees

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Threats to innovation Challenges to SBIR and
STTR (2)

• SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2008
• Extends SBIR and STTR through 2010
• Restores eligibility to VC-backed biotech
  companies
• Efforts to increase set-asides by 650
  million/year were abandoned since funding would
  have come from already stressed federal agencies
  such as NIH
• The bill passed in the House and companion
  legislation is being considered in the Senate
  Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

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Recommendations from Rising Above The Gathering
Storm

• Despite authorization (the America Competes
  Act) and Presidential and Congressional
  rhetoric, funding has not been appropriated for
  the initiatives recommended in this National
  Academy of Sciences 2005 report

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ConclusionU.S. entrepreneurs and innovators
are being thwarted by elected officials
inaction Public opinion supports innovation
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Barriers to Research
Some people believe medical research should be
making more progress. I am now going to read a
list of some of the reasons people believe we are
not. For each one, please tell me if you feel
this is a barrier to progress in medical
research.
Source Transforming Health Poll, 2007Charlton
Research Company for Research!America
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U.S. Competitive Edge in Innovation
Do you agree or disagree with this statement The
U.S. is losing its global competitive edge in
science, technology and innovation.
14 increase from 2006
10 decrease from 2006
Source Your CandidatesYour Health Survey,
2007Charlton Research Company for
Research!America
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Global Competitiveness Whats at Stake?
The scientific and technical building blocks of
our economic leadership are eroding when many
other nations are gathering strength. The
abruptness with which our nations lead can be
lost and the difficulty in recovering a lead
once lost requires us to prepare with great
urgency to preserve our economic security.
Source - Rising Above The Gathering Storm
Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter
Economic Future (2005) The National Academies
Press
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Messages That Work to make the case for urgent
attention to biomedical research

• Aspirational messages (ThenNowImagine)
• Global competitiveness messages
• Economic impact messages
• Cost savings messages

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Regenerative Medicine
THEN regenerating damaged tissues was
considered science fiction
NOW regenerative medicine has made a number of
advances in tissue and organ regeneration, but
progress toward more complex therapies has been
limited due to lack of sustained funding
IMAGINE making tissue and organ failure a relic
of the past, thanks to medical, health and
scientific research
Source 2020 A New Vision - A Future for
Regenerative Medicine
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U.S. as Global Leader in Research
THEN the U.S. has been the leader in medical,
health and scientific research for decades
NOW U.S. investment in medical, health and
scientific research has stalled, threatening the
U.S. global competitiveness innovation in
bioscience industries could go the way of the
auto industry
IMAGINE the United States doesnt lose its lead
in medical, health and scientific research
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July 10, 2005
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while Congress battles over bills to fund
research, scientists outside the U.S. are making
advancessome experts worry that the U.S. is in
danger of falling behind The American public
agrees Research!America/ PARADE Taking Our
Pulse poll data shows most Americans think it
is very important or somewhat important for the
U.S. to be a global leader in medical and
scientific research, and a majority of American
support embryonic stem cell research. 
Whos Leading the Way? by Micah Morrison.
PARADE magazine. July 10, 2006
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Investment in Research Important for Job Creation
and Higher Incomes
In terms of job creation and higher incomes, how
important do you think it is to invest in
scientific research?
Source Bridging the Sciences Survey,
2006Charlton Research Company for
Research!America
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State Economic Impact Data
www.researchamerica.org/state_econ
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(No Transcript)
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Health Care Most Serious Long-Term Issue Facing
Nation
In your opinion, which of the following, if any,
are the most serious long-term issues facing the
country?
Health care 76 Alternative energy
sources 69 Education 67 National
Security 61 Global economic competition 55 Gl
obal poverty 53 Global climate
change 53 Another issue 5 None of
these 1 Dont know 1
Source National Survey, 2008Harris Interactive
for Research!America and ScienceDebate2008.com
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Research Helps Control Health Care Costs

• NIH-funded researchers have developed treatments
  that delay or prevent diabetic retinopathy,
  saving the U.S. 1.6 billion a year.
• Treatments that would produce a 5-year delay in
  the onset of all new Alzheimers disease cases
  from 2010-2050 could save almost 4 trillion per
  year.

Sources NIH Fact Sheet Diabetic Retinopathy
Vernon, et al. Alzheimers Disease
Cost-effectiveness Analyses
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Voters Have Influence
public sentiment is everything. With public
sentiment, nothing can fail without it nothing
can succeed. Abraham Lincoln
Entrepreneurs and other innovators most of them
voters! are not acting as though they have
political influence!
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How Informed Are Americans About Elected
Officials Positions on Research
How well informed would you say you are about the
positions of your Senators and Representative
when it comes to their support of medical,
health and scientific research?
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Few Americans Very Well Informed About Positions
on Research
How well informed would you say you are about the
positions of your Senators and Representative
when it comes to their support of medical,
health and scientific research?
Source Your CandidatesYour Health Survey,
2007Charlton Research Company for
Research!America
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Likeliness to Vote for Candidate
Please tell me if you would be more likely or
less likely to vote for a presidential candidate
if he or she supported increased funding for the
following? ( saying More Likely)
Source Your CandidatesYour Health Survey,
2007Charlton Research Company for
Research!America
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Candidates Should Debate Science Policy
Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement? The presidential candidates should
participate in a debate to discuss key problems
facing the United States, such as healthcare,
climate change and energy, and how science can
help tackle them.
Source National Survey, 2008Harris Interactive
for Research!America and ScienceDebate2008.com
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Important for Candidates to Talk About Science
How important do you think it is that the
presidential candidates talk about how science
and scientific research will affect their policy
making decisions if they are elected?
Source National Survey, 2008Harris Interactive
for Research!America and ScienceDebate2008.com
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Your Candidates-Your Health 2008

• Candidate Outreach
• Invitations to participate mailed to all
  presidential candidates, and the site is live
• Invitations being mailed to all 2008
  Congressional candidates after each states
  Congressional primary
• Regular e-mail reminders to candidates who have
  yet to complete questionnaire
• E-mail alerts to Research!America advocacy
  network to encourage their candidates to respond

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www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org
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I believe that the U.S. has the potential to
lose its global competitive edge in science,
technology and innovation unless we take steps to
change the current trend. Sen. Barack
Obama, in his response to the 2008 Your
Candidates-Your Health voter guide.
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What Can You Do?

• Stop sitting on the sidelines  become an
  advocate for a policy climate that supports
  innovation
• Link innovation to the top of mind agenda of the
  public and those who want to serve the publics
  interest
• Health care
• The economy
• Global competitiveness
• Elect candidates who talk about and will act on
  behalf of innovation! 

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If all youre going to do is vote on November
4th, you will have short-changed science, your
profession, your institutions, your colleagues,
and your country. No, you and I have to do a
great deal more, now and into the future, to
defend science, to put it back into the high
priority place it has held, and to advance the
cause of human health. The Honorable John Edward
PorterResearch!America Chair
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"If you look out into the long-term future and
what you see looks like science fiction, it might
be wrong But if it doesn't look like science
fiction, it's definitely wrong." Christine
Peterson, vice president of Foresight Nanotech
Institute, quoted by Joel Achenbach in The
Future is Now. 13 April 2008.
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We all anticipate and work for science
fiction-like breakthroughs What we need now
more than ever is an advocacy breakthrough,
particularly advocacy by innovators and
entrepreneurs
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www.researchamerica.org