MAPGuideⓇ
Equitable Access Policies
Approaches to Equitable Access
This page provides links to equitable access policies and other resources developed by global health R&D funders, Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) and academic institutions.
Global Health Funders
CARB-X
Stewardship & Access Plan Development Guide
This document provides guidance for developers of therapeutics, diagnostics and preventatives. It outlines CARB-X’s expectations of product developers regarding stewardship & access plans, and aims to inspire other organizations to develop and act upon their own access principles.
CEPI
Equitable Access
CEPI has published a number of resources related to its commitments to equitable access including an Equitable Access Framework, which articulates CEPI’s role in the ‘end-to-end’ process for achieving equitable access, as well as an Equitable Access Policy. CEPI has also published summaries of the access obligations included in the funding agreements for its core portfolio and COVID-19 vaccine portfolio alongside an ‘equitable access dashboard‘ which outlines the access requirements that it may consider for inclusion in funding agreements.
Gates Foundation
Global Access Statement & Humanitarian License
This statement provides an explanation of the concept of global access and sets out some of the requirements that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may make of its grantees. Standard global access commitment and humanitarian licence clauses are provided in the Humaniarian License FAQs.
GHIT
Access Policy
The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund’s access policy has two components: data access and product access. The data access policy focuses on the transparency and accessibility of data generated with GHIT funding. The product access policy addresses licensing and pricing requirements. Licensing requirements include grants of voluntary licenses for users in lower-income countries. Pricing requirements include affordable pricing on a no gain/no loss basis, as well as consideration of a range of pricing strategies.
RIGHT Foundation
Global Access Policy
The Research Investment for Global Health Technology (RIGHT) Foundation sets out a Global Access Policy based on: (i) the prompt & broad dissemination of project data; and (ii) accessibility and availability in terms of price, quantity, quality and timeframe of products & innovations arising from funded projects.
Wellcome Trust
Equitable Access to Healthcare Interventions
The Wellcome Trust’s statement on maximising access to healthcare interventions includes contractual mechanisms such as global access plans, revenue sharing agreements, and stewardship plans. Wellcome has also published a report setting out its commitments to tackling access-related challenges, and a follow-up report reflecting on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Product Development Partnerships
DNDi
Pro-Access Policies
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) has an access policy and an intellectual property policy, both of which outline DNDi’s approach to achieving equitable and affordable access to products resulting from its R&D collaborations. DNDi recently published a paper on ‘Striking fair deals for equitable access to medicines‘ which provides further details of access provisions in its agreements.
FIND
Global Access Policy
FIND’s global access policy statement outlines “Four A’s” that govern its work with over 160 partners each year: Available, Appropriate, Affordable, and Adopted. FIND avoids a one-size-fits-all approach and instead focuses on best-fit solutions, affordable and quality products, affordable diagnostic solutions, and accelerated adoption with the context of LMICs.
IVCC
Global Market Access
IVCC’s Global Access Strategy aims to: (i) minimise time to optimal impact; (ii) support evidence-based deployment; and (iii) ensure the effective and sustainable management of insecticide resistance, whilst sustaining innovation. IVCC considers Access as a coordinated set of activities to ensure that vector control products are available, affordable, and acceptable to end users, and adopted into developing country health systems.
MMV
Socially Responsible Agreements
The Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) highlights the need to meet its public health mission through socially responsible agreements. In order to support its mission, MMV retains the rights to the intellectual property required for launching new drugs for their target patients. MMV’s policies emphasize that IP rights must be exclusive, royalty-free, and transferable.
TB Alliance
Socially Responsible Agreements
The TB Alliance follows a “AAA Mandate”: new products must be Adopted by regulatory bodies, must be Available to populations in need, and must be Affordable to patients with TB, within their health systems. To achieve this mandate, the TB alliance works with stakeholders and partners to ensure new products are endorsed and recommended, to perform and disseminate new research, and to ensure a consistent and affordable global supply chain.
Academic Institutions
AUTM
Nine Points to Consider in Licensing University Technology
Emory University
Technology Transfer for Global Access
This document from Emory University’s Office of Technology Transfer outlines the university’s guiding principles in innovation access. These guiding principles include seeking industry partners and creating new companies, engaging in open discussion with industry partners in regards to philanthropic access, supporting production in low- and middle-income countries, and following effective global access principles when licensing Emory inventions.
Harvard, MIT, and Stanford
COVID-19 Technology Access Framework
The COVID-19 Technology Access Framework was jointly developed by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. The Framework sets out commitments for equitable access to university innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harvard University
Global Access Provisions
Harvard has developed a set of global access provisions which may be required in exclusive licenses for technology which could have significant public health benefits. The provisions include: (i) definitions of Developing Countries, Humanitarian Purposes and Qualified Humanitarian Organization; (ii) retained rights for humanitarian purposes; (iii) the right to grant third party licenses for sale and distribution of a licensed product in developing countries; and (iv) tiered royalty rates for developing countries.
McGill University
Global Access Principles
McGill University’s Global Access Principles include (i) an open science approach and the availability and accessibility of information; (ii) evaluation of the necessity and benefits of intellectual property protection for different territories; and (iii) the structuring of licensing terms to improve global access, such as non-exclusive and field or territory specific licenses, sublicensing programs, and royalty structures that encourage commercialization at a reasonable cost.
Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres
Ten Principles for Socially Responsible Licensing
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines
Equitable Access Framework & Global Licensing Principles
University of British Columbia
Global Access Principles
The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Global Access Principles include a statement that societal impact has become a key metric alongside standard throughput, financial and economic measurements in measuring the success of technology transfer activities. UCB will seek to enter into public/private partnerships to develop new technolgies for the developing world, as well as negotiating “at cost” pricing for developing countries under exclusive license agreements.
UC Berkeley
Affordable Access Plan
The Socially Responsible Licensing Program (SLRP) page from the UC Berkeley Office of Intellectual Property & Industry Research Alliances (IPIRA) provides a number of useful resources including model agreement clauses, articles, presentations and examples of SLRP projects.
UC Berkeley has also published a template exclusive license agreement which includes a requirement for an Affordable Access Plan. This was developed in partnership with UAEM.
UCLA
Considering Underserved Populations When Licensing Medical Research Discoveries
University of Edinburgh
Statement of Principles for Access to Medical Technologies in Developing Countries
This statement outlines the University’s approach to licensing health-related technologies, including: (i) filing patents in developing countries “only as necessary”; (ii) encouraging early publication & wide dissemination of research; (iii) making efforts to use creative and effective licensing strategies to promote global access; and (iv) support the development of technologies for medical conditions that disproportionately impact communities in developing countries, without regard to the economic value for the university.