Social and economic impact of the commercialization of the Argus II artificial retina in the United States

Amanda C. Walsh (), Marwa E. Salem (), Zachary T. Oliver and Kyle Clark-Sutton
Additional contact information
Amanda C. Walsh: RTI International
Marwa E. Salem: RTI International
Zachary T. Oliver: RTI International
Kyle Clark-Sutton: RTI International

The Journal of Technology Transfer, 2018, vol. 43, issue 6, No 8, 1607-1630

Abstract: Abstract Each year, the United States invests about $45 billion in research conducted by federal researchers within federal laboratories. These efforts generate extensive social benefits when results are transferred to the private sector. It is important that we effectively quantify the economic and societal impact of federal technology transfer activities to inform taxpayers and policymakers about the value of public investments in this form of research. The Argus II device, an artificial retina commercialized in the United States by Second Sight in 2013, provides a rich example of how private sector innovation can be enhanced by research collaborations with federal labs and academia. Over the 25-year journey from idea to product, Second Sight carried out research and development collaborations with six Department of Energy national laboratories and seven universities. The case of Argus II also offers valuable insight into (1) how private industry, academia, and government can work together to bring socially beneficial innovations to fruition and (2) the tradeoffs inherent in these public–private collaborations. In this paper, we use a Markov model to estimate the realized and potential future social benefits associated with Argus II. We provide an interactive tool that can be used to replicate our findings and modify assumptions using updated patient information as it becomes available. We also provide insight into the aspects of federal involvement surrounding the development of Argus II that contributed to its successful commercialization and discuss other spillover benefits from these public–private collaborations.

Keywords: Economic impact; Technology transfer; Biomedical innovation; Artificial retina; Markov chain; Monte Carlo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1007/s10961-017-9610-z

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