Materials Transfer Agreement (MTA)

1. The Majority of MTAs are handled by Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV). Faculty and departments are advised to direct external individuals requesting MTAs to the MTA request form for outbound material, where they will be able to submit their request. Alternativley, faculty can initiate a MTA request by filling out the MTA request form for inbound material where a MTA template agreement will be created and a contracts associate will review and negotiate.

   1.  If your transfer falls under any of the follow three categories, you will need to contact the appropriate research administration office (ORA)

      • A sponsor-controlled research study

      • A funded or unfunded collaborative study between Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the provider of the materials

      • For research involving patients or protected health information, clinical testing or procedures or drug/device testing in humans or any planning/lab/clinical service in support of such clinical research

2. Review and negotiations may take 1-2 weeks or more (timeline dependant on parties responsiveness). JHTV will reach out to both parties if any clarification is needed. Otherwise, JHTV is presented with MTA terms that discuss ownership, publications, indemnification, liability, etc. These terms must be negotiated in line with JHU policies.

3. Once the negotiations are complete JHU, will begin the signature process. JHU will send the MTA to the appropriate individuals for them to sign (this is typically done electronically via DocuSign).

4. After gathering all the required signatures (IRB, Vice Dean for Research, Etc.), the MTA will be fully executed and in full effect. JHTV will notify you or your staff that the MTA is fully executed and will provide a copy of the MTA to you for your records.

5. At that point, you or your staff are free to request or send the materials at your discretion.

Helpful Tips:

• MTAs are not required for transfer of internal materials between Johns Hopkins entities. JHU Applied Physics Labratory is the only exception.

• Currently, if there is a collaboration, JHURA does their best to send the material request directly to JHTV to negotiate a separate MTA. Then they negotiate and sign the collaboration agreement.

• Dr. Daniel Ford signs off on SOM MTA requests.

• Miye Schakne and Dr. Greg Kirk sign off on BSPH MTA requests.

Guidance from ORA:

If an information sheet for the MTA has already been filled out and submitted to JHTV, no COEUS record is required.  Otherwise, a COEUS record should be routed to ORA (Proposal Type= Negotiation Only if no funding)

• Please provide the following:

  • Editable version of the Agreement (preferably MS Word), if one is available. If no agreement is available, ORA has templates for use. If ORA is to draft the agreement, please indicate.

  • Proposed Budget, when applicable. No budget required for unfunded MTA’s.

  • Statement of Work or Scope of Work, clearly describing the materials being transferred and how they are intended to be used.

  • Provide the contact information (name, title, email address, phone #, mailing address, etc.) for the Provider/Recipient

  • IRB/IACUC approval or application number, if applicable (and other applicable compliance, like ISCRO). If these approvals are pending, please indicate.

  • Outgoing transfers of human biospecimens will require approval from the Vice Dean for Clinical Investigation. The form to request this review is available here.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institutional_review_board/guidelines_policies/guidelines/transferring_human_biospecimens_to_outside_organizations.html

https://ventures.jhu.edu/technology-transfer/material-transfer-agreements/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/research/resources/offices-policies/ora/

mta@jhu.edu

Peter Sheppard, Director, Contracts and IP Operations psheppard@jhu.edu

Marshall McLeod, Sr. Contracts Associate mmcleod4@jhu.edu

Data Use Agreements