Managing the Triple Helix in the Life Sciences: Universities, Government, And Industry Should Adopt a Consistent and Transparent Oversight System to Protect Against the Risks of Conflict of Interest‪.‬

Over the past four decades, the increased financial, intellectual, personal, and legal interaction of academe, industry, and government has dramatically changed the structure of the life science enterprise, but the management systems to protect against conflicts of interest (COIs) and other abuses in these relationships have not kept pace. An analysis funded by the Kauffman Foundation found that there is little reliable and timely information about how these relationships are being handled at universities, and that government agencies employ a confusing mix of inconsistent policies and practices. A more transparent and coherent system for preventing abuse is necessary to preserve the integrity of the scientific endeavor, particularly in the biomedical and health-related sciences, and to prevent narrow self-interest from undermining the broad public interest that can be served if these innovative and productive relationships are effectively managed. Developments such as the growth of the biotechnology industry, the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act to encourage commercialization of government-funded research, and the increased commercial activities of academic scientists have resulted in an expansion of the number and type of working relationships among academia, government, and industry (see sidebar). The most recent nationally representative data on the prevalence and magnitude of academic/industry relationships (AIRs) in the life and health-related sciences stem from surveys of company executives and faculty members that we at Harvard Medical School conducted in the mid-1990s. Our 1994 survey of senior executives of science companies revealed that over 90 percent of the firms responding to the survey participated in some form of relationship with academia, and 59 percent supported university-based research in the form of either a grant or a contract. Our 1995 survey of 2,052 faculty members in the life and health-related sciences at the 50 most research-intensive U.S. universities revealed that 28 percent of respondents reported receiving some research support from industrial sources. The prevalence of support was greater for researchers in clinical departments (36 percent) than those in nonclinical departments (21 percent).