<p>A teeny, yet vitamin-packed peanut with an extraordinary shelf life carries with it the potential for greatness.</p>
<p>Products like the SunOleic 97R peanut developed by University of Florida scientists are making big bucks for Florida universities looking to mass-produce inventions.</p>
<p>Florida is at the top of the list.</p>
<p>Investments in research by major Florida universities rose by $36.5 million between 2005 and 2006, amounting to more than $1.6 billion in 2006, according to results of a survey of 13 Florida research universities arranged by the Technology Transfer Office at Florida State University.</p>
<p>Statewide increases in licensing income of more than $3.7 million and the number of patents applied for and received were also notable.</p>
<p>Florida has a wealth of licensing opportunities because it is the fourth largest state in the nation, said David Day, UF's director of the Office of Technology Licensing.</p>
<p>"It's a great place to be," Day said.</p>
<p>Although Florida's research universities are becoming increasingly successful, UF stands out above the rest.</p>
<p>"As for the statewide tech transfer stats, we dominate them," Day said in an e-mail.</p>
<p>UF's dominance has been recognized nationally.</p>
<p>In the 2000-2004 Milken Institute Technology Transfer and Commercialization Index of universities, released in September 2006, UF took fifth place nationwide.</p>
<p>Florida was trumped only by four institutions in California with a reputation of licensing success.</p>
<p>"Life is good," Day said. "We're all wearing sunglasses our future's so bright."</p>
<p>Rankings were calculated by comparing the patents issued, licenses executed, licensing income and the number of start-ups.</p>
<p>Other Florida universities trailed behind, with FSU at 49th place and the University of South Florida taking 74th.</p>
<p>UF's success is evident in its numbers.</p>
<p>The university made $40.3 million in licensing income and was responsible for 13 start-ups for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, according to the latest Association of University Technology Managers U.S. Licensing Survey.</p>
<p>The biggest moneymakers for the university are sports energy drink Gatorade and glaucoma medication Trusopt, said Win Phillips, vice president of research at UF.</p>
<p>UF's royalty income for 2006-2007 was $43 million, Phillips said.</p>
<p>In total, Gatorade and Trusopt make up about a third each in licensing income, with the final third coming from other university inventions, he said.</p>
<p>Trusopt, an eye drop that treats glaucoma, was invented at UF by Thomas Maren.</p>
<p>It was licensed by Merck Pharmaceuticals and now results in big profits for the university.</p>
<p>"We reaped the rewards," said Joseph Kays, UF's director of research communication.</p>
<p>"It's not going to do any good if it's just sitting on the shelf of a laboratory."</p>
<p>Day attributes UF's success to the wealth of opportunities available to the university.</p>
<p>He cited "great scientists, a supportive administration," good funding and an advantageous location in a highly populated state as components of UF's success.</p>
<p>"We are awash in opportunity," Day said.</p>
<p>Day said the best indication of UF's technology licensing success are the calls and e-mails frequently received from venture capitalists, those looking to invest in new ideas, hoping to see some of UF's offerings.</p>
<p>"It tells us we're doing something right," Day said.</p>
<p>UF's technology licensing office differs from licensing offices at other universities because they work with small start-ups in addition to seeking investors from large corporations, Day said.</p>
<p>"We have start-ups from Boston to Seattle to San Francisco and back again," Day said.</p>
<p>A major UF start-up success is Regeneration Technologies Inc.</p>
<p>Starting as a project of the UF department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, UF scientists formed a small company that develops pieces used for transplants out of human or animal bone.</p>
<p>UF invested in the start-up and watched it blossom. When its stock went public, UF was able to sell its shares of RTI stock for a profit of $60 million, Kays said.</p>
<p>The profits went toward the construction of UF Cancer & Genetics Research Complex and UF Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Institute, Kays said.</p>
<p>Success stories like RTI have prompted UF to invest in several start-ups through its Sid Martin Biotechnology Development Incubator.</p>
<p>The incubator is "like a nest, basically, for start-up companies," said Patti Breedlove, the assistant director of the Biotechnology Incubator Program.</p>
<p>The incubator, located in a 40,000-square-foot structure in Alachua, is a "program that offers facilities and business support to help give companies a good start," Breedlove said.</p>
<p>The facilities boast $1 million in scientific equipment, and an animal facility and a climate-controlled greenhouse.</p>
<p>"You can't start a biotech company in your garage," she said.</p>
<p>The UF biotechnology incubator is well known in its industry, Breedlove said.</p>
<p>"We're having to turn down people for the first time ever," Day said of the increase in companies applying to the program.</p>
<p>The incubator was recently named second for 2007 in the technology category at an international competition hosted by the National Business Incubation Association.</p>
<p>"This was huge," Breedlove said.</p>
<p>The top ranking went to the Montpellier Business and Innovation Center in Montpellier, France, making UF's incubator the highest-ranked in the U.S.</p>
<p>Companies associated with the incubator study areas of the life sciences to come up with new inventions such as the cure for cancer, ethanol production and diagnostic tools for brain trauma, Breedlove said.</p>