Achieving equitable access to health technologies during a pandemic
Lessons learned from UK universities’ technology transfer practices & policies 2019–2023
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15540483 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ayolola Eni‐Olotu (0000-0002-9187-9692, Imperial College London, corresponding author), Rebecca Hotchkin (King's College London), Rachel McCormick (0000-0002-5638-538X, King's College London), Molly Pugh-Jones (University College London), Sarai Keestra (0000-0002-6368-0977, University of Amsterdam) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 2528072-2528072 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-05 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-1692 • E-ISSN: 1744-1706 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17441692.2025.2528072 |
| PMID | 40616391 |
| OpenAlex | W4412046105 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 20 |
The COVID-19 pandemic underlined stark inequalities in timely access to health technologies worldwide. Universities, by conducting a significant amount of early biomedical research and development, have a critical but often overlooked role in determining downstream equitable access to health technologies. This paper reviews university's policies and practices regarding COVID-19 health technologies in the United Kingdom (UK) during the recent pandemic using annual freedom of Information (FOI) requests between 2019 and 2023 to a cohort of 35 UK universities and website searches. We provide an overview of all patents and licenses filed for COVID-19 technologies, changes in technology transfer policies or strategies, and engagement with international mechanisms designed to enhance equitable transfer of knowledge and intellectual property rights during the pandemic. Despite a time-limited increase in non-exclusive licensing of COVID-19 health technologies at the height of the pandemic, there was a lack of systemic change in university policies for technology transfer, and limited to no engagement with international mechanisms to promote equitable access. Universities can promote global equitable access to health technologies by publishing clear technology transfer policies, attaching conditions to technology transfer agreements, increasing transparency, and engaging with non-exclusive licensing mechanisms, now and in future health emergencies
Business · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Economic growth · Economics · International trade · Pandemic · Political science · Technology transfer · Biomedical Ethics and Regulation · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Healthcare cost, quality, practices · Medicine
Global Covid-19 Vaccine Inequity
Decolonising human rights
Structural violence and the biomedical innovation system
A pandemic treaty for equitable global access to medical countermeasures
Who funded the research behind the Oxford–AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
University patenting and licensing practices in the United Kingdom during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic
Academic Patents and Access to Medicines in Developing Countries
| Highly cited | No |
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