Celgene donates $100K to Rutgers’ TechAdvance funding program

Rutgers University’s TechAdvance Fund received $100,000 from Celgene Corp., it announced Tuesday.

The fund was created through the university’s Office of Research and Economic Development to advance early stage Rutgers technologies toward commercialization.

This is ORED’s first corporate donation since the program was founded in June 2017.

“The TechAdvance program serves as a catalyst to move Rutgers inventions beyond that basic research stage and into the marketplace for practical application. Celgene’s donation enhances our efforts to encourage invention and entrepreneurship among Rutgers researchers as they develop new solutions to real-world problems,” said Christopher J. Molloy, senior vice president for research and economic development at Rutgers. “We are grateful for Celgene’s support and shared commitment to advancing innovation at Rutgers and improving lives.”

“Celgene’s donation to the Rutgers TechAdvance fund is consistent with Celgene’s entrepreneurial vision to enable bold pursuits in science and to support the start-up ecosystem in N.J. This mission is further demonstrated by the establishment of the Thomas O. Daniel Research Incubator and Collaboration Center on the Celgene campus,” said Rupert Vessey, president of research and early development, Celgene.

TechAdvance provides grants up to $100,000 to Rutgers researchers whose creations have the potential to become marketable products but don’t advance because there is no funding.

To date, the program has awarded $1.45 million to 22 researchers, it said.

“Inventors come to our office with hopes of marketing their new technologies to customers or industry partners, but the technologies are often very early stage and require more data,” said S. David Kimball,vice president for innovation and research commercialization at Rutgers. “TechAdvance provides funding with the goal of generating meaningful results that will increase the probability of follow-on funding, sponsored research, commercialization through licensing, or the creation of a new startup. By giving these researchers the boost they need, we hope to bring more valuable Rutgers technologies to market and make a difference in the world around us.”