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Putting Research to Work
Beyond the Ivory Tower
Plant City-based Utek has made a business of helping small publicly traded companies acquire university research.
Florida in the mix
Utek does business worldwide, with its 52 employees housed at offices in Florida; Cambridge, Mass.; King of Prussia, Pa.; London; and Tel Aviv. Its recent deals have included Florida companies as well as Florida universities. In November, Sarasota-based Industrial Biotechnology Corp. worked with Utek to license research from Rice University in Houston and Oxford University in England. The technology is designed to use microbial enzymes to produce specialty chemicals used in flavors and fragrances. On the university side, the University of Florida developed a solid-state sensor that detects and measures combustion gases. UF licensed the technology to Utek, which then exchanged it for stock in Fuel FX International, a San Diego company that develops technology for improving fuel economy and reducing emissions.
Utek, which went public in 2000 and raised $8 million early this year, has yet to make a killing on its stock holdings. Its stake of almost 4 million shares of Circle Group Holdings, an Illinois technology commercialization company, has shown the best payoff. Utek acquired shares at 12 cents each, Gross says. They surged to $8 in 2004 but have slumped to 97 cents recently.
