Marketing and other considerations can impact the ongoing success of IP, even years after commercialization. Sometimes, you may have to “pull the plug” on an otherwise successful endeavor. For example, the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently decided to stop manufacturing its signature aerosol chambers — known as “Madison chambers” — used for researching infectious disease, although it had been doing so for 30 years. The College of Engineering is shutting down the business after an internal audit found it was poorly managed and carried the potential for huge liability in the event the chambers failed, exposing researchers to toxic agents. The chambers had been involved in a few dangerous lab accidents nationwide.

The College’s associate dean, Steven Cramer, says he is not aware of any manufacturing defects associated with the chamber and that any problems stemmed from operator error. Nevertheless, he instructed workers not to fill any more orders for the product last spring after receiving the audit report. “From the audit, it appeared to me there was potentially more risk than the revenue benefit from producing the chambers,” Cramer says. The business had made only a modest profit, but it gave the university some prestige. The College of Engineering had asked for the internal review of the business just as demand was growing because of a boost in federal and private money for bioterrorism-related work.

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