From laboratory bench to benchmark: technology transfer in laboratory medicine

Background: Life Sciences research, enhancing the occurrence of innovation, is able to impact clinical decision-making, both at diagnosis and therapy. Indeed, starting from the knowledge of specific needs and of technical-scientific demands, researchers can conceive and experiment innovative solutions. Despite these strengths, transferring research to the market in Life Sciences shows considerable criticalities. The aim of this paper is to provide concrete evidences on the processes of technology transfer based on the exploitation of the results obtained by KronosDNAsrl, an academic spin-off focused on reproductive medicine. Methods: Different tools were used to evaluate the technical feasibility (validation of the results obtained with the prototype) and to manage the technology transfer process of One4Two®. Results: The different analyses we carried out showed the feasibility of the proposed solution. As a result, the One4Two® prototype has been developed and validated. Conclusions: Here, we provide a strength of evidences on how knowledge obtained by translational research on “bench” can be used to be transferred to the market on “benchmark” enabling innovation in Laboratory Medicine. In addition, the model described for One4Two® can be easily transferred to other products.