Successful Research Translation Draws on Collaboration and Counsel

George Dimopoulos, PhD, MBA ’08, a professor in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology graduated with his Master of Business Administration from the Carey Business School in 2008—12 years after he’d received his PhD, and many years before he would consider translating his research into a marketable product. 

He found the MBA coursework to be a refreshing contrast from the academic life he usually led, as well as a way to optimize laboratory operations by refining his management and leadership skills.

However, it wasn’t until years later, when Dimopoulos discovered a bacterium that could act as an insecticide used to target mosquitos that carry deadly malaria parasites and viruses, that he began to work with innovative skills. 

“We weren’t thinking about it so much as a product at that point, but during the Zika epidemic, funders were supporting the development of novel mosquito control products,” Dimopoulos says.

Establishing a commercialization outlook early on allowed him to view his research in a new light, he says. "Our technology had several properties that supported a viable commercialization path." 

The active ingredient in the pesticide is a natural product that could kill both larval and adult mosquitoes as well as high-value agricultural pests, and it has a long shelf life—it is stable for long periods after deployment for mosquito control. 

But a major hurdle for mosquito-borne disease control is insecticide resistance. 

“It was particularly encouraging when we found that our biopesticide could kill mosquitoes that were resistant to all chemical insecticide classes and would not easily select for resistance,” Dimopoulos says.

Over the course of the next few years, the biopesticide saw funding from a range of sources. The Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) funded the project to further develop the biopesticide for malaria mosquito control that also included semi-field testing in Burkina Faso. The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) funded the development of a scale-up production method, and through CDC funding the team performed the first semi-field testing against dengue-transmitting mosquitoes in Puerto Rico.

“All these funding mechanisms focused on taking concepts from the lab to a product,” says Dimopoulos.

Propelled by these funding agencies, and with his business experience in mind, Dimopoulos and his team began to meet with industry specialists and consulting groups to strategize how to take the biopesticide to the market. 

“We met with people who helped open our eyes and understand the commercial aspect of our discoveries,” he says. “It’s a very different way of thinking about a discovery, where market size, cost of production, and value proposition among competing products becomes a major focus.”

This mindset allowed Dimopoulos to fine tune his research to be more commercially-oriented early on. “Once you become aware, you can start to focus your research and development from an early stage into a certain direction,” he says. 

Among the consultants Dimopoulos met with are: Boston Consulting Group, IVCC’s advisory committee, BioAg Innovations, TEDCO, and Nucleate, a student-organized group that supports biotechnology innovation, in addition to JHU’s own Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV), who guided Dimopoulos’ team through invention disclosure and patent application submissions. 

From these partnerships, Dimopoulos learned how to approach his research and present it as a competitive product, but it was not without challenges unique to the insecticide, for which industry experts offered guidance where they could.

“A major hurdle is the EPA registration, which is required for commercializing any insecticide” he says. “It’s a costly and lengthy process, because the EPA requires extensive toxicological testing performed by specialized labs.”

Over time, the team pivoted from a live mosquito-cide, which is subject to much more biosafety scrutiny and is more complicated in nature, to non-live formulated prototype products that can target larval and adult mosquitoes. 

Industry leaders involved in Nucleate’s review group advised Dimopoulos to focus on boosting the value of the invention through non-diluting funds before founding a company, which often requires diluting venture capital. Nucleate helped Dimopoulos develop a pitch for the insecticide to present to interested business-minded parties, and the project won the first prize for an ecologically sustainable product at the Nucleate Final Pitch event at MIT in 2023.

"We, as scientists, are not always trained to look at findings in this way; there's a lot to consider in addition to the science."

Before committing to an innovation pathway, Dimopoulos says researchers should think carefully about the commitment they are willing to make and the probabilities of success in a competitive market environment. 

“It takes a lot of time and effort, and you will need to find funding,” he says. “But, the more informed decisions you make, the better your chances for success will be, so don’t jump on something without researching it through.” 

As far as the path ahead, Dimopoulos and his team hope to register the active ingredient and at least one end use product along with forming a company in order to establish a long-term, sustainable solution. 

To public health investigators interested in innovation but unsure where to begin, Dimopoulos recommends they should do what they do best, and research. 

"Inform yourself as much as you can by talking to people who have commercialized projects similar to yours," he says. "We, as scientists, are not always trained to look at findings in this way; there's a lot to consider in addition to the science."