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Researchers sometimes desire access to specialized material, such as a unique cell line, held closely by a company or another university. In some cases those organizations will provide the desired material without obligation as a professional courtesy, but will more often provide the material only under a Material Transfer Agreement, or MTA.
An MTA is a contract that specifies the rights and duties governing a transfer of proprietary tangible material from one party to another. MTAs allow the organization that owns the material to maintain contractual control of its use while still permitting and encouraging research that depends on the material.
Example: A researcher at another university desires a plasmid sample made and held in the laboratory of a University of Arizona investigator. The PI at Arizona prepares an MTA for signature by OTT.
Example: A UA principal investigator desires samples of a cell line developed and held by a researcher at another university. The PI at the other university prepares an MTA for signature by ORCA at the University of Arizona.
The exchange of proprietary biological materials between universities, federal laboratories, and other non-profit organizations is very common. Rather than negotiating an MTA uniquely crafted for each case, many institutions have streamlined the process by subscribing to a uniform master agreement, which can then be implemented with a short addendum in each instance of exchange between subscribing institutions. The general master document is called the Universal Biological Material Transfer Agreement, or UBMTA, and the short, case-specific document is call the UBMTA Implementing Letter. Before preparing an Implementing Letter, make sure that the other party is, like the University of Arizona, a subscriber to the UBMTA.
If either the providing institution or the receiving institution has not subscribed to the UBMTA, then an alternative, self-contained, BMTA must be used. The parties negotiate the specific terms, with the first draft usually prepared by the party providing the material.
Executing an MTA requires signatures of the director of OTT (for material send from UA) or ORCA (for material received by UA), of the University of Arizona Principal Investigator, and of the corresponding individuals at the other organization.
