Policies on Faculty Conflicts of Interest at US Universities

Abstract

In the 20 years since the Bayh-Dole Act was passed,¹ US academic institutions have developed a variety of relationships with industry. In fulfilling its intended goal of encouraging transfer of technology from universities to the private sector, this act and associated legislation have fostered the rapid growth of patents held by nonprofit institutions, such as universities, and the licensing of these patents to for-profit companies. The number of university-generated patents increased from approximately 250 per year prior to the Bayh-Dole Act² to more than 4800 (and >3000 licenses) in 1998.³ This new pathway of technology transfer has resulted in development by private companies of technologies such as the cancer drug paclitaxel and the Lycos Internet search engine.³ It also has created opportunities for conflict of interest for university faculty members because academic-industry partnerships can offer direct financial rewards to individual faculty members in the form of consulting fees, royalties, and equity in companies while simultaneously funding these faculty members' research. These financial interests are now prevalent: Krimsky et al⁴ found that 34% of articles published in 14 leading biology and medical journals in 1992 had at least 1 lead author with a financial interest in a company with activities related to the published research, although virtually all of these interests were undisclosed in the articles.