Promoting Global Access To Health Technologies: A Licensing Toolkit For Public Sector Institutions
By: Mohammad Shahzad
Abstract:
The growing shift among public sector institutions and pharmaceutical companies towards equitable licensing of their health technologies is commonly termed “Global Access Licensing” or “Socially Responsible Licensing.” This two-part article uses the term “Global Access Licensing” (GAL) to describe a set of licensing provisions and terms that can be utilized by public sector institutions, including funding agencies, universities, and research institutes, and included in license agreements with industry partners to ensure access and affordability of resulting health technologies in the developing world.
A GAL approach is sensitive to the fact that licenses are complex and each will be unique. It offers a flexible framework that does not prescribe specific language for every contract; rather, it provides a range of principles and contractual language that can guide IP commercialization practices during licensing negotiations with industry partners.
This two-part research synthesis draws upon interview discussions with technology transfer office directors of leading North American and British universities with GAL policies and provisions, including Harvard, UC Berkeley, Yale, Oxford, and UCL, as well as the relevant literature in the field of global access licensing of publicly-funded health technologies, in order to present readily implementable licensing provisions and clauses in the form of a GAL toolkit for public sector institutions.