About the NCI Technology Transfer Center (TTC)

Who We Are

The NCI Technology Transfer Center (TTC) supports technology transfer on behalf of NCI and nine other National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers. Our skilled technology transfer team provides expertise on patenting, facilitating collaborations, licensing and technology analysis and marketing.

TTC's Vision: Engaged partnerships that benefit research, innovation, and public health.

TTC's Mission: To enable and guide collaboration, invention development, and licensing to advance today’s discoveries into tomorrow’s medical care.

What We Do

Do you want to bring the next life-changing health innovation to market? TTC connects NIH research laboratories with external partners from industry, academia, and nonprofits to develop and commercialize cutting-edge medical research. TTC is committed to providing an excellent customer experience to help advance today’s discoveries into tomorrow’s medical care.

Our team of technology transfer professionals with legal, scientific, and marketing expertise guide partners through the technology transfer process that starts with discovery, and flows to patents, inventions, the formation of collaborative agreements, and licensing. We apply specialized technology transfer expertise that includes:

Negotiating agreements with partners to ensure legal compliance, including licenses, transactional agreements, and co-development agreements
Facilitating research collaborations between NIH intramural researchers and partners (CDAs, CRADAs, CTAs)
Enabling material and data transfers (MTAs, DTAs)
Assessing new inventions and reviewing Employee Invention Reports (EIRs)
Recommending strategy for filing domestic and foreign patent applications
Advising and assisting development and management of intellectual property
Proposing and implementing innovative development strategies and partnerships for NCI technologies and other institutes and centers served by TTC
Guiding how to handle extramural inventions for which the grantee has declined title
Reviewing, tracking, and reporting on all active cases, patent licenses, and royalties
Facilitating commercialization efforts to benefit public health
Conducting technology analysis and competitive landscape of inventions.
Guiding intramural and extramural scientists on all technology transfer matters
Educating intramural research program staff on the beneficial role of technology transfer and providing training for relevant technology transfer duties
Serving as liaison for individuals, committees, and organizations within and outside the federal government who are interested or involved in matters relating to technology transfer
Serving as liaison to allied offices, such as the NIH Office of General Counsel

Our Partners

NIH is prohibited from commercializing or manufacturing its discoveries. We need partners to meet the mission. The Federal Technology Transfer Act allows NIH and other federal laboratories to use patents as incentives to establish research collaborations and licensing with industry, academia, and nonprofits who can further develop the discoveries and bring them to market.

TTC takes an active role in the process by proactively facilitating and guiding partnerships with outside organizations so that these discoveries can reach the public. Our partners include:

pharma and biotech companies interested in solving a specific technical issue, tapping into world-class resources, or expanding their business through licensing technology from NIH
investors (angels, venture capital, private equity, etc.) starting a new company or adding to the pipeline of portfolio companies
academics interested in finding a collaborator or research materials
nonprofits interested in finding treatment options for patients or developing NIH technologies
NIH investigators interested in patenting a discovery or in need of resources to develop a technology

To explore a partnership, view Partnering with TTC or email our Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit at ncitechtransfer@mail.nih.gov.

NIH Institutes and Centers We Support

As an NIH designated service center for technology transfer, TTC supports NCI and nine other institutes and centers within NIH, offering a range of services from consultations to full technology transfer services. TTC works with each to determine their unique technology transfer needs.

TTC works with these institutes and centers:

National Eye Institute (NEI)
National Institute on Minority Health and Disparities (NIMHD)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
NIH Clinical Center (NIH CC)
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Center for Information Technology (NIH CIT)