Research organizations have criticized the intellectual-property policies of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) — a European public–private partnership to improve pharmaceutical research and development (Nature 466, 306–307; 2010). This partly reflects a misunderstanding about how knowledge sharing is handled in collaborations between academia and industry.

The IMI is dedicated to creating public–private collaborative networks. Its management of the intellectual-property rights helps the translation of new knowledge into efficient, safe drugs and leads to better standards of health care.

Knowledge generated from each IMI project belongs to the participant who generates it, and comes with negotiated access rights. Non-exclusive licences are privileged. Project participants are free to define the background intellectual property that he or she wishes to make accessible to other project participants.

These rules have proved workable for academics, for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and for many major pharmaceutical companies — in which sensitivities about commercialization and competition run high. So far, 24 small- and medium-sized enterprises and 155 universities are participating in 15 ongoing IMI projects.

Participants in these projects may encounter some bumps on the road to innovation but, as every explorer knows, the unbeaten track often leads to the most rewarding discoveries.