Using a ranking of US research institutions based on five years (2009–2013) of total gross licensing revenue reported by the Association of University Technology Managers, Nature Biotechnology obtained detailed life science commercialization information for 2013, which is shown for major universities (Table 1) and biomedical research institutes (Table 2). Although the number of licenses executed from this group was down slightly year on year (−2%), the number of life science startups increased by 43%, with the University of California system contributing 18 more than in 2012. Life sciences continue to drive startup creation (Fig. 1), with Northwestern University topping the license income earners (Fig. 2).

Table 1 US universitiesa ranked by licenses executed, together with licensing revenue, life science startups and US National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards and funding.
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Table 2 US biomedical research institutes ranked by licenses executed, together with revenue, startups and US National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards and funding in 2013.
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Figure 1: The life sciences accounted for the majority of gross revenue, licenses executed and startups in 2013 (a-c) calculated from our list of selected universities (Table 1).
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Source: Association of University Technology Managers, university tech transfer offices.

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Figure 2: Life science licensing income earners.
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Source: Association of University Technology Managers, university tech transfer offices.

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