INFORMATION GOVERNANCE
Lafrowda House
St. German’s Road
Exeter, UK
EX4 6TL
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xx.xx
www.exeter.ac.uk/ig
27 November 2020
Ref: FOI20 - 448
Dear Requester,
Thank you for your email of 4th November 2020 requesting information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Please see the responses to each of your questions below:
We have previously sent FOI requests asking for information about the licensing practices of UK
universities. This was concerning the time period 18th October 2018 to 18th October 2019. We are
now looking to update the information for the following year, 19th October 2019 to 19th October
2020.
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
(https://www.exeter.ac.uk/researchtoolkit/partnershipsandcontracts/ip/#a1)
“The University of Exeter 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 all the health
technologies LICENSED by the university in the period 19th October 2019 to 19th October 2020
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)
Please see attached the University of Exeter’s response FOI20-448 Response data
Q3. Please provide a list of patents granted to your organization in the period 19th October 2019
to 19th October 2020, listed by patent family, indicating countries/regions in which the patent has
been granted.
Please see attached the University of Exeter’s response FOI20-448 Response data
Q4. In the period 19th October 2019 to 19th October 2020, 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 ❏
Formally presented on access licensing practices at an academic or professional event, or at
another university ❏
Informally shared or discussed access licensing practices with administrators at other
universities
❏
Other ❏
None
(Tick as appropriate)
The University of Exeter 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 period 19th October
2019 to 19th October 2020 to improve access to the technologies they license in low-and middle-
income settings?
The University of Exeter 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
40 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