About UAEM

UAEM is a student-led, international non-profit network that works to transform how publicly funded biomedical research is patented, licensed and priced, so that medicines and health technologies are affordable and accessible, especially in low- and middle-income countries.  

UAEM’s mission is to promote access to medicines and medical innovations, change norms and practices in academic patenting and licensing, and empower students to advocate for a biomedical R&D system that works for everyone. | Source: uaem.org 

Founded in 2001 and based in Washington, DC, UAEM has mobilized hundreds of students on more than 100 campuses in over 20 countries to push universities toward equitable “global access” licensing, greater investment in neglected disease R&D, and more transparent, needs-driven research that serves populations in LMICs. | Source: Guidestar.org

Collaborations with GHH-partners

NGOs / advocacy organizations: 

  • Wemos 
    • UAEM is a sub-contractor in the 4-year consortium project “Enabling Access: Medical Innovations for All” led by Wemos, with Health Action International (HAI), Innovarte and Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) as core partners; UAEM, Afya na Haki and Medicines Law & Policy provide additional expertise and advocacy. | Source: Wemos; Haiweb
    • UAEM Netherlands and Wemos co-led initiatives on conditions to public R&D funding and access: a joint opinion piece argues that Dutch government investments in medicine R&D must include access conditions to ensure affordable products. | Source: Wemos
    • UAEM NL’s clinical-trial transparency campaign was supported by Wemos (and other allies). | Source: uaem.org
  • Stichting Health Action International (HAI) 
    • HAI is a core consortium partner with Wemos, Innovarte and KEI in “Enabling Access: Medical Innovations for All”, where UAEM is a subcontracted expert. | Source: Health Action International 
    • UAEM NL’s call for stronger clinical trial transparency in the Netherlands was explicitly supported by Health Action International. | Source: uaem.org 
    • UAEM and HAI also cooperate in broader Dutch access-to-medicines advocacy (e.g. Medicines Network Netherlands activities and joint events). | Source: Wemos 
  • WEMOS, Aidsfonds, Dokters van de Wereld, HAI 
    • In 2018, UAEM, Wemos, Aidsfonds, Dokters van de Wereld and HAI were among eight Dutch organizations that sent a joint letter to the Dutch Parliament calling for better access to affordable medicines, including conditionality on publicly funded R&D, use of compulsory licensing and transparency on development costs. | Source: Somo 
  • Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) 
    • UAEM and KEI repeatedly collaborate on access-to-medicines policy and legal advocacy, including: 

Other coalition-type collaborations: 

  • HAI, Wemos, KEI, UAEM and others co-organised an online side event just before WHA77 (“Access to medicines in pandemics: what’s the deal?”), focusing on access to medical products in pandemic PPR, showing an ongoing, structured collaboration across these access-to-medicines actors. | Source: corporacioninnovarte.org 

Overview of characteristics

Activities: 

  • Countries: 
    • Chapters exist on >100 campuses in more than 20 countries, including: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, India, Iran, Sudan and others. | Source: uaem.org 
  • Modes of activity: 
    • Campus-based advocacy & education: student campaigns to change university licensing, research priorities and policies (e.g. Take Back Our Medicines, Socially Responsible Licensing). | Source: uaem.org; chapterhandbook 
    • Research & monitoring: producing Global Health Grades / University Report Cards that evaluate universities on neglected disease research, access licensing and transparency, especially in HICs with global impact. | Source: uaem.org ; globalhealthgrades 
    • National & regional policy advocacy: letters and campaigns to parliaments, ministries and regulators (e.g. Dutch Parliament on medicines policy; Dutch CCMO on clinical trial transparency). | Source: Somo 
    • Global campaigns: “Free the Vaccine for COVID-19” and Take Back Our Medicines, aimed at ensuring public-interest conditions and equitable access in publicly funded R&D, including during pandemics. | Source: freethevaccine.org; uaem.org 

Community of Practice:  

  • CoP1: Strengthening health systems 

Themes & subthemes within CoP1 

  • Themes 
    • Global health architecture for equitable access to medicines: UAEM works to re-shape university IP and licensing practices so that publicly funded innovations are licensed under terms that enable affordable supply in LMICs, aligning innovation governance with UHC and PHC goals. | Source: ueam.or; Hasanah 
    • Medicines policy & R&D governance: through tools like Global Health Grades and Re:Route, UAEM maps how universities (key actors in health R&D systems) address neglected diseases and global access, thereby influencing the upstream determinants of what medicines health systems can offer. | Source: uaem.org; globalhealthgrades
    • Accountability and transparency in clinical research: UAEM campaigns for clinical trial transparency (e.g., UAEM NL’s actions toward the Dutch CCMO) to ensure evidence-based health systems and ethical use of human subjects in research. | Source: uaem.org 
  • Subthemes 
    • Public-interest patenting & licensing for PHC and SRHR: advocating socially responsible licensing clauses that ensure low- and middle-income countries can afford and access new diagnostics, vaccines and medicines, including those relevant to SRHR and PHC. | Source: uaem.org; adphealth
    • Needs-driven R&D for neglected diseases & LMIC health priorities: evaluating and pressuring universities to invest more in neglected diseases and emerging infections that disproportionately affect LMICs, aligning academic research with health-system needs rather than market size. | Source: uaem.org 
    • Transparency & accountability in university–industry relations: campaigns such as Take Back Our Medicines and Xtandi pricing advocacy demand that publicly funded inventions are not priced out of reach, and that universities include access-friendly clauses in industry licences. | Source: uaem.org
    • Youth & student engagement in health-system governance: UAEM explicitly empowers students as global health actors, training them to use evidence, legal arguments and advocacy to influence national and institutional policy on access to medicines. | Source: uaem.org

Organization type: 

Knowledge institute & research network

Available resources:

  • Knowledge & expertise 
    • Independent research & analytical tools: 
      Global Health Grades / University Report Card – a structured methodology that uses public data and university input to rate how universities contribute to neglected-disease R&D, equitable licensing, transparency and education. This is an actionable tool for benchmarking and policy dialogue with academic institutions. | Source: uaem.org
      Re:Route and TBOM materials map alternative R&D models and provide concrete guidance for integrating access conditions into publicly funded research. | Source: uaem.org
    • Expertise on academic patenting/licensing & TRIPS flexibilities:
      UAEM has built detailed knowledge on socially responsible licensing, conditionalities in public funding, and the use of legal tools (e.g. compulsory licenses, march-in rights) to secure access to medicines, with policy briefs and comments at EU, US and WHO levels. | Source:  ADPHealth
    • Campaign design for access-to-medicines issues:
      Through Free the Vaccine for COVID-19, UAEM and partners developed creative advocacy that helped secure political support for measures like the TRIPS waiver and pushed for open sharing of COVID-19 technologies. | Source: freethevaccine.org
  • Networks 
    • Student and academic network across >20 countries: 
      Chapters at universities in North America, Europe, Latin America and other regions provide local entry points into academic institutions that are central to health-system innovation and training. | Source:  uaem.org
    • Coalitions with key Dutch / GHH partners: 
      UAEM works closely with Wemos, HAI, KEI, Aidsfonds and Dokters van de Wereld in Dutch, European and global advocacy on access to affordable medicines (joint letters to Parliament, consortia, WHA side events). | Source: Health Action International
      Member of broader networks like Medicines Network Netherlands, where Wemos coordinates a coalition on access to affordable medicines. | Source: Wemos 
  • Influence / advocacy leverage 
    • Policy engagement at national, regional and global levels: 
      UAEM has a track record of influencing debates on public return on public investment (Netherlands, EU, US), pushing for conditionality on R&D funding and transparency, and contributing to discussions at WHO social forums and other UN spaces on access to medicines. | Source: ohchr.org; Wemos; Somo 
    • Agenda-setting in university governance
      By successfully securing socially responsible licensing policies at universities (e.g., Maastricht) and grading institutions through the Report Card, UAEM creates reputational incentives that can shift institutional practice in ways that ultimately support health-system access to essential medicines. | Source: uaem.org
  • Financial & in-kind resources 
    • UAEM is not a major funder, but brings:
      Organised volunteer workforce (students, young professionals) who contribute time, research and advocacy. | Source: Hasanah
      Ability to plug into funded projects as an expert subcontractor (e.g., Enabling Access consortium) bringing high-quality access-to-medicines analysis and mobilization capacity. | Source: Wemos 
  • Coordination & convening 
    • UAEM Europe and UAEM NL regularly organize conferences, trainings and campaigns (e.g., European Conferences linked to the TBOM campaign, Access to Medicines weeks, seminars on socially responsible licensing). | Source: UAEM Europe Chapter Handbook 
    • They can co-coordinate thematic working groups on access-to-medicines within larger alliances (such as the Enabling Access consortium or Medicines Network Netherlands), contributing both technical content and youth voices. | Source: Wemos

Contact information

Website: Universities Allied for Essential Medicines