University of Utah Department of Biochemistry professor Jared Rutter’s research has touched everything from cancer, diabetes, fibrosis, cardiovascular disease and more, but the common thread connecting his work has always been metabolism.
The work Rutter and his team do in his lab isn’t directly related to clinical care, he said. “But I would hope that we are working on topics that are disease relevant, and that our science is solid and good enough that it can then serve as a foundation from which either we or someone else will try to use it to impact patients.”
That hasn’t stopped them from doing “work that is of the kind that can support and lay the foundation for work that could impact patients someday.” In fact, Rutter has used this foundation developed by his research to create three companies, but pursuing commercialization wasn’t always part of his plan when he joined the university in 2003.
If it weren’t for his uncle, a prominent biotechnology leader and University of Utah alumnus, Rutter said he “would never have even thought of founding a company.” Together they founded a company, and while it was a great experience for Rutter, the drug the company was focused on unexpectedly failed in clinical trials.
They also formed a second company that just recently started clinical trials.
Rutter co-founded a third company, Atavistik, which is based off of research that Rutter and his colleague Kevin Hicks developed at the U. “From the beginning, we had the idea that this technology could be used to inform drug discovery.”
That foundational technology was recently described in a publication in the journal Science.
“It's been a great experience, and I think it has really also informed my academic lab,” Rutter said of his experience in founding and interacting with companies. “How I think about science has been very much informed by the experiences I've had in the private sector.”
Being both an academic and an entrepreneur gives Rutter a valuable perspective into the world of drug development and research. “I feel like it's helped me to understand what the important problems are from a drug development perspective,” he said. “There's no point in going down a drug development path if at the end of the day the private sector will not pick that up and carry it into clinical trials.”
His insight into the business aspect of drug development hasn’t been the only benefit to his lab that he’s seen so far. He also said his work in the private sector has “turned into collaborators in some cases or consultations in other cases” that have helped his lab do better science.
Even with all the benefits he’s seen from commercialization, Rutter recognizes that it can be a challenge to take on, in addition to his other duties at the university. “Our day job is hard, and it takes a lot of time. So, thinking about doing other things can be overwhelming,” he said. “It makes sense that it would be a challenge, but I think it’s a challenge we should face.”
I just feel like there are times when the situation warrants it that it adds a new way that our science can impact the university, the state and the world.
Rutter said there are a few things that have helped him find the time for all his different roles. First, he makes sure the foundation of all his efforts is really good science. “No matter where you go with it, there is a firm foundation for the future.”
Second, Rutter advised that faculty members talk to other people to help calibrate their commercialization efforts. It takes more than just a great idea for something to be ready for commercialization; sometimes it needs more proof of concept or validation. Other people have ideas that are ready for commercialization, but they never realize the potential their idea has. Reaching out to colleagues or groups like PIVOT Center can help faculty determine the best next steps for an idea or discovery.
“It should be something that is on our minds, and when the opportunity is there to move a project in that direction, I feel like we should think very hard about taking that opportunity,” Rutter said. “I just feel like there are times when the situation warrants it that it adds a new way that our science can impact the university, the state and the world.”
