The National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Institut Pasteur (IP), a private non-profit foundation, announced today an agreement to extend their long-standing collaboration in health research and the management of inventions arising from this research. These two institutions have been leaders and collaborators in the field of HIV/AIDS research for more than 20 years. The extended agreement will initially facilitate the patenting and licensing of a large portfolio of intellectual property held by NIH and IP in the field of HIV-1 diagnostics. Additional long term public health benefits are expected as the agreement provides a new framework for further support and encouragement of collaborative research in a variety of areas by leading scientists at both the NIH and IP.
HIV diagnostics are important to maintaining the safety of the blood supply through donor screening and by providing early diagnosis and monitoring of HIV infection so that patients may benefit from early treatment regimens. To date, effective HIV-1 diagnostic test kits based upon technology licensed from IP and NIH have been distributed worldwide by many companies, thus saving millions of lives. As the science of understanding the HIV-1 virus has progressed, new technologies arising from the laboratories of IP and NIH and subsequently developed by diagnostics companies now allow these tests to be provided with increased sensitivity and specificity but at a lower cost.
"This agreement, which ensures the continuation of the productive partnership enjoyed by NIH and the Institute Pasteur, can only ultimately benefit public health
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