Serendipity and university technology transfer: a case study.
Résumé
Technology transfer office (TTO) core activities are the management of public-private partnerships through: sponsored research contracts, patents licensing, and spin-off companies. In their typology of transactions, it has been suggested to include an informal mechanism: serendipitous discovery. Serendipity is defined as the art of discovering, an unsought finding. It is one of the most important aspects of science, generating radical and disruptive innovations. Serendipity has been discussed in several academic fields but the topic has been under-research in management science. We seek to fill the gap through one case-study: a serendipitous drug discovery made by academics from Bordeaux’s university and its successful launch on the market. We will share with academics, TTO managers and policymakers the issues that a university TTO could face in front of such unpredictable opportunity, figure out “anti-serendipity” factors, identify the main success factors and draw some conclusions on university technology transfer management.