The Wall Street Journal has recognized Oklahoma City among 20 “Up & Comers” on its list of the most inventive towns in America, citing, in particular, the work of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
The article, which appeared in the July 22-23 edition of the Journal, sought to identify “small-town patent hubs” by seeking to identify places where a high percentage of patents were given to individuals or small businesses.
On the “Up & Comers” list, Oklahoma City tied Annapolis, Md., for 12th place with 31 patents in 2005. For Oklahoma City’s listing, the Journal wrote, “The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, which has seen a spike in federal grants, has spawned many spin-off companies.”
Indeed, OMRF grew from $7.76 million in annual funding from the National Institutes of Health in 1998 to $27.4 million last year and has spun off 11 different biotechnology companies. In 2005, OMRF obtained nine U.S. patents and 26 international patents, and it filed new applications for an additional 25 U.S. patents. The patents encompassed a variety of technologies, including inhibitors to combat Alzheimer’s disease and potential new approaches for diagnosing the autoimmune disease lupus.
“It’s great that the country’s leading business newspaper has recognized what many of us already knew—that Oklahoma City and OMRF are emerging as hotbeds of innovation and biotechnology,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “This certainly serves notice that when it comes to knowledge-based entrepreneurship, Oklahoma City and OMRF are ‘on the map.’”
About OMRF:
Celebrating its 60th birthday in 2006, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and curing human disease. Its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. It is home to Oklahoma’s only member of the National Academy of Sciences.
