by Adriana Benedict
Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
Boston-Wide Forum on Global Access Licensing of Biomedically Relevant Technologies
Thursday, April 25th, 3-5pm
Coffee and refreshments at 2:45pm; reception following the event
Harvard Medical School New Research Building – 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur
Seminar Room 1031
How do innovative medical technologies make their way to a global population, including patients in resource-limited settings? As centers of medical innovation, universities are well-placed to influence the global dissemination of the fruits of biomedical research and enhance access to advances in drug, vaccine, diagnostic and device technologies. In the past five years, several institutions in Boston and beyond have acknowledged this fact and taken bold steps to encourage the transfer of medical technologies to the developing world. Licensing provisions such as tiered, reduced and zero royalties for products sold in developing countries; march-in rights; agreements to agree; agreements not to patent or not to enforce patents in developing countries; and humanitarian licensing exceptions are just some of the strategies used to implement global access licensing of medical technologies. Others can be found in UAEM’s Global Access Licensing Framework, as well as the multi-institution Statement of Principles and Strategies for the Equitable Dissemination of Medical Technologies.
In this Forum, technology transfer officials and academic research leaders from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU, Northeastern, Children’s Hospital and Partners Healthcare (MGH/BWH) will speak to their institutions’ philosophy and experience with global access licensing strategies. In an hour-long Q&A, the audience – including invited experts with significant experience in medical technology development – will contribute to the discussion. The Forum is open to the public; and researchers, entrepreneurs, university leaders and students are highly encouraged to attend.
UAEM is an international interdisciplinary student organization that works with universities to leverage academic research for global health. Since our founding in 2001, we have worked towards illuminating the poorly understood process that brings discoveries from the laboratory to widely accessible products and services meant to improve human health.
Registration through this link is appreciated, but not required.
This event is co-sponsored by grants from the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), the HMS Division of Medical Sciences, and Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights.
