7. Intellectual Property

Consensus:

A discussion about intellectual property needs to take place early in the process of proposal development. It may be reasonable for the host country to claim a right to intellectual property if its participation in the trial is deemed essential for the development of the particular candidate vaccine.

Discussion:

Intellectual property may become an important commodity in the negotiation of vaccine availability to the host country following the trial. However, access to a successful vaccine following the trial should be dealt with separately from the question of who has the right to intellectual property.

Controversy:

It is not clear who in the host country (investigators, government, and population) should have a claim to the intellectual property rights, though a majority was of the opinion that this should not be the exclusive property of the investigators.