BCM Technologies, the for-profit venture arm of the Baylor College of Medicine, has a hands-on approach to university technology transfer has served both the medical school and external investors well. First round investors in BCMT's first 14 spin-offs earned a 35% internal rate of return.

Quorex Pharmaceuticals has discovered a regulatory molecule and signaling pathway that permits bacterial cells to sense when they have achieved the population density (a quorum) needed to initiate the successful infection of a host. It is developing compounds that disrupt that communication system, which is found in a range of pathogens, to prevent infection.

Combinatorial chemistry company Chemicus focuses on bottlenecks in lead optimization in the drug discovery process. Chemicus claims that its abacus system makes larger amounts of similar compounds necessary for evaluating "hits" further down the drug discovery line.

BCM Technologies likes to start companies whenever it can; licensing’s fine, too.