http://www.pharmalot.com/2009/10/pfizer-sanctioned-by-court-for-delays-and-abuses/ News, Comment and Conversation Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:58:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.pharmalot.com/2009/10/pfizer-sanctioned-by-court-for-delays-and-abuses/#comment-442306 Christopher Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:28:42 +0000 http://www.pharmalot.com/?p=19400#comment-442306 The award made to BYU is minimal and doesn't seem to correspond with the Magistrate's reprimand. I believe what matters is the nature of the deal between BYU and Monsanto. If it involved payment of a fee for access to Simmons' work with no royalty assumed if it resulted in a commercialized product, then the amount of that fee is the subject of discussions. Presumably Pfizer felt that a fee having already been paid, they could move on with his research in a different direction. Hard to know without details, but either way Pfizer can afford $852k. Not all university tech transfer groups are as sharp as the best ones. I don't know about BYU's. The award made to BYU is minimal and doesn’t seem to correspond with the Magistrate’s reprimand. I believe what matters is the nature of the deal between BYU and Monsanto. If it involved payment of a fee for access to Simmons’ work with no royalty assumed if it resulted in a commercialized product, then the amount of that fee is the subject of discussions. Presumably Pfizer felt that a fee having already been paid, they could move on with his research in a different direction. Hard to know without details, but either way Pfizer can afford $852k. Not all university tech transfer groups are as sharp as the best ones. I don’t know about BYU’s.

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