NIH answers call to streamline technology transfer process

More than 6,000 researchers at NIH laboratories help to drive the research and discovery process. These NIH researchers make unpatented materials available to companies through internal use licenses executed by the OTT to support the continued advancement of scientific research. Examples of materials include mouse models used to develop new cancer therapies and cell lines used to test new therapies for chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure. An NIH internal use license is a contract that governs the transfer of tangible research materials from NIH to a company for commercial research use.

The new system will streamline the licensing process by:

• Providing a website for companies to find and license unpatented materials using a ready-to-go contract.
• Allowing a company to pay online through Pay.gov and receive the materials from the lab quickly.
• Providing faster turn-around time and simplifying the process for companies to find research materials available from NIH labs.

"To stay competitive in today's world, on-line ordering is a requirement. With the launch of this first-of-its kind system, OTT is demonstrating its intention to meet that challenge," said Mark Rohrbaugh, director of OTT.

For non-profit research organizations interested in obtaining NIH materials through a material transfer agreement, the NIH will launch the Transfer Agreement Dashboard in December. This web-based system will have a broad array of beneficiaries including NIH scientists and technology transfer staff as well as researchers and technology transfer offices at universities and non-profit research institutions.

Provided by NIH/Office of the Director