We recently surveyed the 128 technology commercialization offices currently partnering with us to get their feedback on the Kerafast program. The survey asked about their experiences working with Kerafast and provided an opportunity to weigh in on new reagents, marketing campaigns and suggestions for building the community. We look forward to using the results to help us grow and improve the Kerafast program.

One question asked about the main benefits of working with us. Below you’ll find the top responses – take a look and discover the reasons why many leading institutions have joined the Kerafast community.

1. To find a home for unique reagents that would otherwise be difficult to commercialize

Many of the tools available on our platform are specialized reagents, developed by academic investigators to tackle a specific research question. The reagent may only be useful to a small subset of researchers – but for those researchers, it could be exactly what they need. With relatively small target audiences, many of these reagents aren’t attractive options for traditional commercialization, which leaves valuable materials sitting unused in a laboratory freezer. The Kerafast model offers a simple option for getting these reagents out of the freezer and into the hands of researchers who can use them.

2. To receive free marketing that helps spread the word about their institution’s reagents

To help spread the word about novel research tools, we promote providers’ reagents to life scientists across the globe. This allows investigators to discover new materials they may not have seen yet in scientific literature – and then quickly access them for use in their own research. Our marketing activities include targeted email campaigns, banner ads on journal websites, paid search and organic SEO, tradeshow attendance and website features on our homepage and blog. These activities help generate interest and demand for unique reagents.

3. To advance scientific progress by helping accelerate the work of researchers worldwide

The Kerafast mission is to advance life science research by facilitating access to unique research materials. We get these novel reagents into the hands of scientists who can use them to advance their research. Then, we return a generous portion of every sale to the contributing scientists and their institutions, providing an extra stream of funding for their new research. The program therefore helps fuel the work of both providing and procuring laboratories, helping to advance scientific progress overall.

4. To fulfill requests for reagents without needing to go through the traditional MTA process

The Kerafast program reduces the complexity of the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) process, facilitating access to reagents developed by academic researchers. We establish a master license agreement with each providing institution, then add a short addendum for new investigators. When scientists want to purchase reagents, they simply agree to an online “research use only” click license modeled after the NIH guidelines for tools. Together, these licenses eliminate the need for a traditional MTA.

5. To more easily meet their institution’s licensing goals

Technology commercialization offices face considerable pressure to generate revenue and meet licensing goals. The Kerafast program can help. First, it allows for the easy licensing of research tools that would otherwise be difficult to commercialize. Second, by simplifying the MTA process, it frees up time which can be spent on larger revenue license deals and patents.

6. To add an extra stream of funding for their institution

Every quarter, we provide contributing scientists and their institutions with royalty payments from their reagent sales. The payment is determined with a straightforward royalty formula that takes into account how much the investigator participates in fulfilling customer orders. We provide the payments to the institution’s technology commercialization office, which then distributes the proper portion to each participating investigator.

7. To participate in the Kerafast fellowship program

The Kerafast fellowship program is currently operating at a select group of providing institutions. The program is jointly offered by Kerafast and the institution’s technology transfer office to provide scientists with real-life experience in the technology commercialization field. The fellows – often graduate students or postdoctoral scholars – engage with other researchers at their institution to identify and characterize novel reagents. They then help add those reagents to the Kerafast platform, where the materials can be easily accessed by scientists worldwide.

8. Because we execute licenses expeditiously

To date, we’ve worked with 128 technology commercialization offices and 227 principal investigators to license 1,013 reagents. With our extensive experience licensing research tools developed by academic laboratories, we make the process as efficient as possible for technology commercialization offices and the investigators they represent.

9. Because they enjoy working with our team!

Kerafast team members Amelia Gibson, PhD, MBA, Director of Market Development, and Matt Takvorian, MBA, Director of Business Development, work closely with technology commercialization offices around the world to explain the Kerafast business model, establish license agreements and add new reagents to our platform. They make the process as easy as possible for our partners – and plus, they’re fun to work with!

Have questions, or want to discuss how your institution can partner with us? Please contact us at community@kerafast.com or 617-336-3228.