Mar 31 2022

Simple Material Transfer Agreement

A rapid response to a public health emergency may depend on the ability to move relevant samples and related data from one location to another. The movement of these samples and associated data should be as simple and transparent as possible, while safeguarding the interests of the owners of the samples and associated data. Growing awareness of the potential value of certain samples and related data has increased the demand for these safeguards. ATMs play an important role in enabling transfers and subsequent use by the recipient, while protecting the interests of the assignee. For a summary of why these agreements are important and a discussion of some of the challenges associated with their use, see: Science Commons: Material Transfer Agreement ProjectMaterial transfer AGREEMENTS ARE OFTEN CONCLUDED TO CLARIFY THE PARTIES` expectations. Equally important, they provide a written record of the origin of the materials. In addition, in the case of infectious diseases and hazardous substances, they help determine the expectations of the parties in terms of liability and who is responsible for certain risks that may arise during the use of the equipment. Ultimately, a decision must be made as to whether the goal of the MTA process is to make it smooth, fast and efficient. or to ensure that it is as beneficial as possible for those who need it most. Although the objectives of an MTA are very different, the best outcome will take into account both objectives and create a balance that meets different needs and communities. The recent Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) with Ebola virus disease in West Africa and Zika virus in Latin America have highlighted the many challenges of negotiating ATMs in an emergency context and have demonstrated a clear need for agreed basic principles and scalable and sustainable approaches to MPA negotiations (for more information, see: General principles).

To facilitate hardware transfers, an outgoing SLAC short form MTA or an incoming SLAC Short Form MTA can be used to send hardware from SLAC to a recipient or to respectfully receive hardware from a vendor. Below are links to .pdf versions of these templates. There are circumstances in which these models cannot be used (see Section II below). SLAC Legal offers a variety of other MTA templates that can be used in place of a SLAC Short Form MTA template, and providers often prefer to use their own MTA templates. A rapid response to a public health emergency may depend on the ability to move relevant samples and related data from one location to another. The movement of these samples and associated data should be as simple and transparent as possible, while safeguarding the interests of the owners of the samples and associated data. Growing awareness of the potential value of certain samples and related data has increased the demand for these safeguards. Based on the lessons learned, AUTM has developed a toolkit designed to promote the use of standard agreements. It includes a decision tree that helps technology transfer professionals choose a suitable agreement for transfer, easy-to-use and fill out forms for existing NIH templates, and a new set of model agreements that modify the UBMTA to fit a wider variety of situations: AUM`s MTA toolkit Despite the recognized benefits of standard agreements and the encouragement to use them, The lack of use has led to a missed opportunity to remove barriers to the transfer of materiel. In 2011, AUTM conducted a survey to measure the use of UBMTA and ALS and to understand why many institutions choose not to use them. During a public health emergency, it will be important to ensure that samples and related data can be moved, retrieved and used for a variety of important purposes, including the identification and characterization of the causative pathogen, diagnostic objectives, clinical decision-making, epidemiology, and the development or validation of diagnostic tools.

Given the emergency context, it will be desirable to put in place simple and transparent measures that protect the interests of all parties. This may include provisions to protect the supplier who transferred the samples in good faith during an outbreak. During the public consultation on this tool, several respondents noted that there is no comprehensive international public health framework that regulates access to samples and related data on diseases other than influenza. Very different views were expressed as to whether the development of such a framework is desirable or feasible. .

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