OVCI partners with OTM to celebrate innovation at UIC
The Office of Technology Management, in partnership with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, hosted its second annual Innovation Celebration on April 23, 2019 to recognize the commercially-successful, cutting-edge innovations that have become a hallmark of UIC. Shingrix, the new shingles vaccine, invented by UIC Professor Abbas Vafai from the College of Medicine was highlighted at the event.
Shingrix is a fully recombinant vaccine designed to prevent Shingles, a painful condition caused by a resurgent latent Varicella Zoster (chicken pox) virus. As our bodies age, the latent virus may become active and presents as a painful rash. Over 33 percent of Americans will suffer from Shingles at least once in their lifetime. Unlike prior vaccines, Shingrix is safer to administer to patients with weaker immune systems because it uses a recombinant protein antigen instead of an attenuated live virus that could pose a risk to immunocompromised patients. While the older vaccine, Zostavax, has shown a 51 percent reduction in shingles, clinical trials of Shingrix have shown it to be about 98 percent effective for one year and about 85 percent over three years. The Centers for Disease Control‘s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that adults who have already received the older vaccine should also receive Shingrix, meaning up to 62 million more adults in the US should be immunized.
Shingrix received FDA approval on Oct 20, 2017 and will be the third UIC therapeutic currently on the market, joining a growing list of successful products including Prezista, an anti-HIV drug sold by Janssen Therapeutics, and Tice BCG, a bladder cancer drug in the Merck portfolio. These therapies highlight the very significant contributions of UIC to improving healthcare and patient quality of life through its outstanding achievements in medical innovation.
The UIC Office of Technology Management works with faculty, staff, and students to advance research, education and economic development. One of its primary functions is to assist in the licensing of innovations. The office currently manages 281 active licenses, including 34 with startup companies. UIC OTM has a proven track record of successful licensing with an estimated revenue of over $40 million in 2019 and over $200 million in income in the past decade.