Table 3.

Targeted collaboration criteria. BVGH’s partnering process emphasizes development of collaborations that meet critical healthcare needs in LMICs and are likely to result in products that reach patients.

#	Criterion	Rationale
1	Advanced stage of development (typically preclinical or later)	Advanced-stage collaborations have higher chances of successfully completing all phases of development.
2	Addresses an unmet medical need	Such projects have greater likelihood of receiving funding or being transferred to an appropriate partner, such as a PDP or company, for continued development.
3	Novel target or approach	Such collaborations have greater potential to lead to innovative products that address unmet needs.
4	Aligns with published target product profiles (TPPs) or target candidate profiles (TCPs) (e.g., [21,22])	TPPs and TCPs define experts’ standards and expected needs for on-the-ground product use. By aligning with TPP or TCP criteria, a product is more likely to meet experts’ standards and be accessible and acceptable for use in endemic regions.
5	Exemplifies the use of IP as an enabler of innovation, or demonstrates a company’s commitment to improving access to medicines	WIPO Re:Search has two core goals: to accelerate product development for diseases of poverty, and to demonstrate that IP is not a barrier to access to medicines. Projects that fulfill this criterion exemplify the latter goal.