Universities can achieve the highest possible score by taking the following steps.
INNOVATION (GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH)
- Work to increase the proportion of research resources devoted to health in low- and lower middle-income countries and neglected diseases, with a goal of achieving a research agenda equitable to the global burden of these diseases (For neglected diseases this is estimated at 10-15% of total disease burden based on disability-adjusted life-years – see p.2 of “Medical Innovation for Neglected Patients“). Securing increased grant funding is important but not the only way to achieve this; universities can also: recruit more faculty and students to specialize in these areas; ensure they receive adequate training and support; and advocate to funders the need for increased overall investment in this area.
- Invest in projects that build the university’s global health research capacity, such as new research facilities or strategies to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Establish a major center or initiative dedicated to global health research
- Develop healthcare research partnerships with research groups / centres in low- and middle-income countries
ACCESS (GLOBAL ACCESS LICENSING, OPEN ACCESS)
- Adopt a public commitment to socially responsible or “global access” licensing for university medical innovations. The strongest commitments are detailed, specific, and prioritize licenses that enable affordable generic versions of new treatments in developing countries. Examples include the Global Access Licensing Framework, the Statement of Principles for the Equitable Dissemination of Medical Technologies, and the University of California Licensing Guidelines (pages 21-23).
- Provide information about socially responsible licensing commitments and practices on the university’s website
- Prioritize open, non-exclusive licensing of university technologies to promote competitive development and affordable end products.
- Refrain from seeking patents — or “file and abandon” patents — on university technologies in low- and middle-income countries, allowing generic drug makers there to produce low-cost versions of medicines developed from the university’s research.
- Include global access provisions in 100% of exclusive licenses for university technologies. A list of sample provisions can be found in the Global Health Toolkit produced by the Association of University Technology Managers.
- Share best practices and know-how through events, publications, trainings and interactions.
- Universities can ensure that funds are available for researchers to pay article processing charges, and that the process of accessing those funds is clearly explained online.
- Universities can adopt institutional policies that mandate public-access publication by researchers, through submission to university repositories and other open access databases at the point of publication
EMPOWERMENT (SHARING BEST PRACTICES ON ALTERNATIVE R&D MODELS)
- Increase the number of courses and programs targeted specifically towards neglected aspects of HIV/AID, Tuberculosis, Anti-Microbial Resistance, and the role that intellectual-property can play in these contexts
- Increase the number of conferences, workshops, courses and programs for students to learn about alternative models of research and development in the biomedical research pipeline. For more information on these programs run at Universities world-wide, please check out the UAEM Re:Route Report.