United States Department of Veterans Affairs
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For VA Investigators

March 15, 2006 VA will began to transition from Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs) [or Clinical Research Agreement (CRAs)] to Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) to establish terms of collaborations with industry research sponsors. This change will be largely invisible to you the Principal Investigator. However, CRADAs have a number of advantages over CTAs and these include:

  • Protection of background inventions, trade secrets and confidential information
  • Establishment of intellectual property ownership and licensing options in advance of an invention
  • Protection and management of intellectual property developed by dually appointed, VA/university, personnel (DAPs)
  • Increased interactions between the federal government, universities, foundations and industries.
  • Collaboration with non-federal partner to makes available, complete or partial, funding support
  • Stronger protection for PI initiated studies

Selected key features of CRADAs:

  • Government may provide personnel, services, facilities, equipment or other resources but not funds
  • Collaborator may provide funds, personnel, services, facilities, equipment or other resources
  • Others