University technology transfer

Submitted by andrew.gray on Sat, 09/12/2009 - 17:07

Because many life-saving drugs are developed in campus laboratories, universities wield substantial leverage when they license their drugs to pharmaceutical companies.

The core of our proposals is simple: When a university licenses a promising new drug candidate to a pharmaceutical company, it should require that the company allow the drug to be made available in poor countries at the lowest possible cost. This would have virtually no financial impact on the company or university, but could ultimately save millions of lives.

Read our Global Access Licensing Framework proposal.

In 2003, UAEM developed the Equitable Access License (EAL): an example license that, while it may not be directly applicable in practice (since every technology will require a unique approach), illustrates many important ideas for promoting access. Read the student's guide and the detailed primer.

For further information:

Chaifetz et al., Closing the Access Gap for Health Innovations: Open Licensing, Globalization and Health (Feb. 2007). [pdf]
Kapczynski et al., Addressing Global Health Inequities: An Open Licensing Approach, Berkeley Technology Law Journal (2005). [pdf]

Why universities?

Universities have a critical role to play in increasing access to essential medicines around the world.

As major contributors to drug development, universities are uniquely positioned to influence the way lifesaving medical technologies are developed and deployed. Universities own patent rights in key pharmaceuticals to treat HIV/AIDS, cancer, hepatitis B, and countless other diseases. In fact, a U.S. Senate report in 2000 found that 15 of the 21 drugs with the greatest therapeutic impact were developed using federally funded research, most of which occurs at universities. So far, however, drugs developed at universities have remained largely out of reach for millions of the destitute sick in the developing world.

At the same time, universities are a promising locus for change. Universities hold an avowed commitment to creating and disseminating knowledge for the public good, and they have pledged to see the technologies they develop deployed to benefit the world. Campus decision makers are insulated from lobbies that may dominate political arenas; they are expected to be responsive to students and faculty; and they operate in an environment where reasoned debate, not power, is expected to be the currency.