Universities Vow Shift in Patent Policy to Aid the Poor

Six universities today will issue a joint pledge to make patent and licensing decisions on drugs developed at their institutions in ways that encourage low-cost distribution of the medicines in poor countries, Bloomberg reported. The pledge follows a push by students and others who have drawn attention to pricing policies that effectively deny access to life-saving drugs -- many of them created by university researchers, with federal funds -- in much of the developing world. The universities signing the pledge are: Boston, Brown, Harvard and Yale Universities, Oregon Health & Science University, and the University of Pennsylvania.