Policy

Policy to maximise the benefits of University health research for low and middle income countries

Updated on 12 January 2023

The University seeks to increase and promote global access at no, or at an affordable, cost to medicines that have been developed by the University and that have the potential to benefit those people most in need, including those in LMI countries.

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Background

The University of Dundee wishes to maximize the societal benefits and impact on global human welfare arising from its basic and translational research endeavour, including within the developing world. The University is committed to the research and development of technologies, many of which may not necessarily be regarded as economically viable by industry but which may have the potential to deliver health benefits to selected populations, including those in low and middle income (“LMI”) countries and to those patient groups with rare medical diseases often categorized as Orphan diseases. The University actively supports a facility dedicated to identifying drug targets for diseases of poverty such as malaria, African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, and Chagas’ disease that afflict the developing world.

The University works to ensure that its drug discovery programme continues to match the goals of both the UNICEF-UNDP-World Bank-WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

In its attempt to promote global access to its technologies and research outputs the University employs a range of knowledge transfer mechanisms, including the licensing of University technologies to commercial parties, and public and private partnerships. Such commercialization arrangements will be, as far as practical, influenced by the following policy statement.

Policy statement

The University will, as far as is practicable, seek to increase and promote global access at no, or at an affordable, cost to medicines that have been developed by the University and that have the potential to benefit those people most in need, including those in LMI countries. To give effect the University will:

  1. as far as practicable include appropriate contractual provisions in third party commercial licences and collaboration agreements; and
  2. as far as practicable participate in “open access” or “IP pooling” initiatives, which facilitate and encourage low or no cost access by third parties to University intellectual property (“IP”), which may be useful in the development of medicines for those most in need, including those in LMI countries.

The University recognizes the importance of appropriate IP protection strategies and the need to apply flexible approaches to encourage and facilitate investment in the development of IP that is capable of benefitting those most in need. The University will, where possible, utilize appropriate IP management and protection techniques with particular regard to obtaining leverage on funding, markets and commitment from developers and investors that facilitates global access to affordable medicines for those people most in need, including those in LMI countries.

The University expects its commercial licensing and collaborative partners to appreciate and co-operate with this policy.

 

Document information

Policy number URLMC/v1/4.11
Author Professor A Fairlamb, Convenor, Research Governance & Policy Sub-Committee
Corporate information category Research governance