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Last updated on May 24, 2022 10 min read Industry Collaboration - Material Transfer Agreements

Material transfer agreements (MTAs) are agreements that establish the terms and conditions upon which proprietary materials are transferred by BU to outside parties, or received by BU from outside parties, for use by designated persons in specified and approved research protocols.

Why are MTAs important?

MTAs protect the intellectual property rights of Boston University, Boston University Medical Schools and/or Boston Medical Center in unique materials you have created. An MTA may also provide important protections against liability for the University and/or BMC with respect to the materials transferred.

MTA requests are reviewed and negotiated in close coordination with Export Control and the Institutional Biosafety Committee.

What do MTAs do?

MTAs address both the manner and the scope in the following areas:

  • Permitted use of the proprietary materials.
  • Terms of the institution and the researcher’s publication rights with respect to the use of the proprietary materials.
  • The respective intellectual property rights of the provider of, and the recipient of, the proprietary materials.

Examples

These are some materials often transferred under an MTA:

  • Certain chemical compounds
  • Genetically altered mice
  • Animal models
  • Tissues (human or animal)
  • Sera
  • Plasmids
  • Compounds
  • Molecules

As with other agreements with outside parties, an authorized institutional signature is required in addition to the signature of the PI/PD.

Incoming Material Transfer Agreements

 

Outgoing Material Transfer Agreements

Key Contacts

William P. Segarra

Senior Director, Industry Contracts

617-353-6151

Michael Pratt

Managing Director, Technology Development

617-353-4569

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