How $500 million in Gatorade royalties fuels innovation in Florida

When UF kidney specialist Dr. Robert Cade and his colleagues invented Gatorade in 1965, they did more than launch a multi-billion-dollar sports drink industry. They created a royalty stream that’s been reinvested in Florida ideas ever since. More than $500 million has flowed back to UF, seeding discoveries from cancer treatments to sea turtle conservation to better ways to keep athletes safe.

I’ve seen this power firsthand. When I joined UF in 2013, my research program came with seed funding from Gatorade royalties. With that early boost, my lab has been able to take on risky projects that traditional grants rarely cover. Over the years, we’ve uncovered that human intestinal microbes shape both cancer development and cancer therapeutics.

For example, in recent years, we showed that toxins from common foodborne pathogens can promote the development of colorectal cancer and even accelerate the spread of the disease. We hope to translate these findings into ways to better screen for high-risk patients so they receive the care they need. We’ve also launched a company, Bebi Therapeutics, that is in the early stages of developing a drug that could help the immune system fight lung cancer.

That entrepreneurial spirit has been at the heart of the university’s Gatorade investments. The funding has helped support UF’s two business incubators, which have helped start more than 330 biomedical and technology companies based on university research. The majority of these companies are based in Florida and provide local jobs.

Gatorade’s impact extends well beyond the medical field. A small grant helped launch the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in 1974, and the lab has grown into a world leader in sea turtle conservation and environmental DNA sequencing. UF entomologists used royalty support to invent the Sentricon termite control system, protecting millions of buildings and returning tens of millions more dollars to UF. Even the sport that gave rise to Gatorade has benefited. UF researchers used this funding to develop air-cooled football pads that keep athletes safer in Florida’s heat.

These stories share a common thread: Seed money sparks big returns. A modest Gatorade-funded experiment can grow into a breakthrough, attract federal investment and spin off new companies and jobs, all while replenishing the cycle of discovery. It’s innovation that pays for itself.

Sixty years on, Gatorade is more than a sports drink. It’s proof that Florida ingenuity can echo for generations — if we choose to nurture it. Let’s keep turning sweat and science into the next world-changing idea.

Christian Jobin is a distinguished professor of medicine in the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, co-leader of the immuno-oncology and microbiome program and member of the UF Health Cancer Center.

This column was originally published in the Tampa Bay Times.