Victor Rodriguez
Koenraad Debackere

Concern for the access to research material—broadly defined to include cell lines, monoclonal antibodies, reagents, animal models, combinatorial chemistry libraries, clones and cloning tools, databases, and software under some circumstance—is not new nor has it gone unaddressed. In response to complaints from researchers that restrictive terms in material transfer agreements (MTAs) were impeding the sharing of research materials, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) urged NIH-funded entities to adopt policies and procedures to encourage the exchange of research tools by minimizing administrative impediments, ensuring timely disclosure of research findings, ensuring appropriate implementation of the Bayh-Dole Act, and ensuring the dissemination of research resources developed with NIH funds (1999)