Page 25 - Mass General Brigham - Innovators Guide 1.2

25 INNO V AT O RS GUIDE | M ASS GENERAL BRIGH AM

3
Enabling

3 collaboration

Material Transfer Agreements Mass General Brigham does not accept compensation for these human
tissue transfers (except for documented preparation costs and shipping
Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) are a key element of the life science fees) or patient data.
research system. A Material Transfer Agreement
allows investigators to receive material or human MTA process. Only an authorized official (e.g. members
tissue for pre-clinical research from an academic or These agreements are of the TAG group and Innovations Licensing Managers)
non-profit lab outside. required by the federal may negotiate and execute agreements on behalf of
Mass General Brigham. In addition, MTAs often contain
These agreements are required by the federal government and are language related to intellectual property rights and as
government and are also used to help track activities such, need to be vetted to avoid taking on unwanted legal
that might affect ownership or licensing of results. also used to help track risk by the institution and investigator. The Transactional

The Innovation Transactional Affairs Group (TAG) activities that might Affairs Group is staffed by attorneys to quickly and
negotiates several thousand MTAs per year covering efficiently manage the execution of the agreement.
research materials provided by another researcher or affect ownership or For additional information, please contact:
company. licensing of results. phsinnovationsupport@partners.org,
The external transfer of material or human tissue from or TAG PHSMTA@partners.org
a Mass General Brigham lab to an outside group, for-
profit entity or academic institution also requires an MTA. Such transfer A few notes on MTAs:
should be done as part of a scientific collaboration between the providing
investigator and the receiving party. Such transfer is permissible only if: • If the material needed is commercially available, it may be purchased.
Mass General Brigham Supply Chain is the required path for purchasing.
• Part of a genuine research collaboration in furtherance of the hospital’s mmcontracts@partners.org
medical and educational mission; and, • If the material will be received at no cost (or for a nominal transfer fee),
• Intended to maintain active, ongoing involvement in the company’s work an MTA is required and should be requested through Innovation. Note
with the specimens in an area of science that is of interest to her or that even if the material does not involve a direct cost, the terms of the
him; and, MTA will specify limitations on use of the material and, in some cases,
• Results of the study will be made readily available to the Mass General the rights of the parties to the agreement to file protective intellectual
Brigham investigator. If it is reasonably likely that a publication may property applications related to discoveries derived from the experiments
result, the investigator is free to publish. that utilized the materials.