The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of tackling urgent, large-scale health challenges quickly and across disciplines, organizations, and borders. It’s imperative that good ideas are identified and funded quickly, and that researchers across many institutions can build solutions together.
Currently it can take as long as a year to finalize a research funding agreement, and when collaboration is required, work frequently cannot begin until all parties are signed — further prolonging the delay. What’s more, key components needed to catalyze innovation sometimes come from individual researchers or smaller institutions that are often left out of major research initiatives. Breakthroughs require momentum, and diverse capabilities, wherever they exist globally.
The Leap Health Breakthrough Network will help eliminate barriers to progress thanks to the first-of-its-kind Master Academic Research Funding Agreement (MARFA), which equitably addresses all terms and conditions, including IP, ownership, and publication. Now that the Sanger Institute has signed the MARFA, it will need to negotiate only the statement of work and cost before funds can be transmitted and work can begin. Often in days, shaving months or more off of development timelines.
“This is a fantastic and innovative initiative that offers huge potential. Global multi-disciplinary collaborations that accelerate science are at the heart of many of the Sanger Institute’s research efforts. We embrace such opportunities to stretch our imagination and explore new scientific possibilities at scale so that new discoveries can be made to support human health. This agreement and Leap are clearly a great way of strengthening and supporting this approach further, " said Martin Dougherty, Chief Operating Officer, Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Read more here: www.wellcomeleap.org