CCF Innovations Receives $5 Million for Tech Transfer

In what may be the first gift of its kind, a $5 million cash donation has been made to a technology transfer office to endow the commercialization of new health technologies. The Cleveland Clinic announced receipt of the donation from John Ferchill, a Northeast Ohio real estate developer, in mid-December.

CCF Innovations, the commercialization arm of the Clinic, will administer programs funded through the endowment. The gift will be used to support the center’s leadership and partner grants to underwrite programs between companies moving to Cleveland and the Clinic, and early-stage companies located in Cleveland seeking to collaborate with the Cleveland Clinic. A Plain Dealer article reports the donation will support an endowed chair and professorship as well as generate approximately $150,000 for grants to biomedical firms.

Led by former SSTI president Chris Coburn, CCF Innovations was established three years ago to help move more of the Clinic's portfolio of technologies into the marketplace. In 2002 alone, Cleveland Clinic staff disclosed 113 new inventions — an all-time record for the research institution.

That same year CCF Innovations secured $3.4 million in commercialization revenue for the Clinic, leading to the distribution of $1.5 million to 32 Cleveland Clinic inventors in 2002. According to Crains Cleveland.com, CCF Innovations will generate an additional $3.5 million in fees and other revenue for 2003.

Clinic leaders plan to seek additional donations to grow the endowment.