Christie said the plan would "realize hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants" for Rutgers University and had already prompted some drug companies to call the state and say how useful the merger would be, because they would be able to go "from the laboratory to clinical trials" at one university. At a meeting with The Record’s editorial board on Tuesday, Christie said the University of Medicine and Dentistry of North Jersey — with a poor reputation — had received $350 million in grants for research last year and that the new ties to Rutgers would likely generate much more.