Access to essential medicines in the developing world

The University of Oxford is mindful of the importance of development and distribution of new health-related technologies for less developed countries. Its policy when licensing its technology for commercial exploitation purposes is, as far as is practicable:

  1. to prosecute patent applications in less developed countries only as necessary (for example, to provide development and marketing leverage for new products, or to exert leverage over global licensees);
  2. to grant licences with provisions that seek to increase the availability of medicines at affordable prices to less developed countries.
It expects its commercial licensing partners to appreciate and cooperate with this policy.