INFORMATION GOVERNANCE
Lafrowda House
Sarai Keestra
St. German’s Road
Exeter, UK
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
EX4 6TL
+44 (0)1392 723033
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xx.xx
www.exeter.ac.uk/ig
7 November 2018
Ref: FOI18-386
Dear Sarai
Thank you for your email of 9th October 2018 requesting information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Please see the responses to each of your questions below:
Q1. Has the university committed to licensing its medical discoveries in ways that promote access
and affordability in Low- and Middle- Income Countries? If yes, please provide a link or PDF to the
relevant policy document.
The University of Exeter operates an essential medicines ethical licencing pledge, made accessible to
members of staff via the Research Toolkit
(http://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/toolkit/sharing/ip/essentialmedicines/)
“The University is committed to the principles of global access licencing to low and middle income
countries. To safeguard development of and access to health-related technologies in low income and
developing countries, the University of Exeter, working with our strategic industrial partners and
commercial licensees in this sector, will, as far as reasonably practicable:
• Only apply for and prosecute patent applications relating to healthcare technologies in less
developed countries where necessary - if, for example, without a patent incentive the IP
would not be commercialised or globally licensed
• Negotiate and grant intellectual property licences and material transfer agreements which
seek to promote the availability of essential medicines and vaccines at affordable prices to
patients in low income and developing countries”
Q2. Please provide an Excel spreadsheet with headings as displayed below with al the health
technologies LICENSED by the university in the past year AND specify which countries they were
licensed in AND specify whether they are exclusive or non-exclusive licenses. Health Technology
Licensed | Country of Licensing | Type of License (Exclusive or Non-Exclusive)
No health technologies were licensed by the University in the 12 months prior the date of this
request. Options to negotiate licences at a future date have been granted through collaboration and
research agreements with many of our partners however none of these have been exercised in the
12 months prior to the date of this request.
Q3. Please provide an Excel spreadsheet with al the health technologies PATENTED by the
university in the past year AND specify which countries they were patented in.
This information can be found online in freely accessible patent databases such as Espacenet.
However, as requested, the attached excel spreadsheet indicates the university’s subset of ‘health
technologies’ where patents have either been filed or granted in regional/national territories in the
twelve months prior to the date of this request.
Q4.Has the university shared its best practices for promoting access to medicines through non-
exclusive licensing by carrying out any of the following activities?
- Contributed sample clauses to the AUTM Global Health Toolkit
- Published an article, guidance, or other literature on access licensing practices
- Formal y presented on access licensing practices at an academic or professional event, or at
another university
- Informal y shared or discussed access licensing practices with administrators at other universities
- Other
- None
The University has informally shared or discussed access licensing practices with administrators at
other universities
Q5. What actions has the technology transfer office (TTO) undertaken in the past year to improve
access to the technologies they license in low- and middle-income settings?
In line with our essential medicines licensing pledge we have restricted patent applications for
healthcare technologies in less developed countries to those territories considered necessary for
commercialisation.
This response has been prepared in accordance with a request received pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. The supply of documents under FOI does not give the person who receives the
information an automatic right to re-use the documents without obtaining the consent of the copyright
holder. If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an
internal review. You must submit this to the Information Governance Office in writing within 60 days of
receipt of this notification. Please quote the reference number above.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to
the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
(https://ico.org.uk/)
Kind Regards,
Information Governance
University of Exeter