Below are a few of the forms and resources available to negotiate various types of industry agreements to advance your research. If you’re not sure which form is right for you, reach out to Industry Engagement, or learn more about industry-sponsored research at BU.
Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs)
The industry contracting group manages the negotiation, execution and account setup for clinical trials, including industry-sponsored or investigator-initiated protocols as well as trials initiated by non-industry entities (e.g., universities).
Confidentiality Agreements (CDAs/NDAs)
Confidentiality agreements (CDAs) are used to protect proprietary or non-public information that is disclosed in the course of evaluating a possible business relationship. These are also referred to as Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) or as Secrecy Agreements.
Data Use Agreements (DUAs)
A Data Use Agreement (DUA) is a contractual document used for the transfer of data that has been developed by nonprofit, government or private industry, where the data is nonpublic or is otherwise subject to some restrictions on its use. We recommend researchers enter into a data use agreement any time data is transferred into or out of BU.
Fee-for-service Agreement
Occasionally, industry will tap BU researchers to provide a specific service for a fee.
Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs)
A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is needed any time a BU investigator receives materials, software or human data into or out of BU.
Sponsored Research Agreements (SRAs)
Sponsored Research Agreements (SRAs) are used when an industry sponsor funds a specific research project for a defined time period and in return receives certain deliverables such as research data, reports, and certain rights to intellectual and tangible property.
Unfunded Collaboration Research Agreements (CRAs)
A contract between collaborators who are participating in a project in which no funds are exchanged (e.g., no-cost loan of equipment).