created by Geraldine_VdAuwera
on 2015-04-16
It’s official! As of today, we are able to offer commercial licenses for GATK and MuTect directly through Broad. Stay tuned for details of terms & conditions, coming soon to this very blog.
In the meantime, please email softwarelicensing@broadinstitute.org with any questions or to purchase or renew a license.
From cjhale on 2015-04-21
Hi, wasn’t the Broad going to post the prices for the commercial licenses somewhere on the website in the name of transparency?
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2015-04-21
cjhale Yes we will, but we're not quite ready yet. I'm responsible for putting that together, but due to some unfortunate timing I'm in the UK teaching two GATK workshops back to back right now. Once I'm back in Boston I'll be able to focus more fully on this. In the meantime our friendly neighborhood licensing manager at softwarelicensingbroadinstitute.org will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
From antUnderwood on 2015-06-15
@Geraldine_VdAuwera Do you have any update on indicative pricing please. Thanks
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2015-06-15
Hi antUnderwood, for now we ask that you please email softwarelicensingbroadinstitute.org to inquire about pricing.
From mglclinical on 2015-08-24
Dear GATK Team,
I sent an email to softwarelicensing@broadinstitute.org on last Friday and was hoping to get a response soon regarding the commercial license for GATK, but I didn’t hear back yet. I observed that softwarelicensing@broadinstitute.org email had technical issues in the past, so I am wondering if there is an alternate email or phone number to get quick access to GATK licensing team
Thanks
mglclinical
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2015-08-24
Hi @mgclinical,
The softwarelicensing@broadinstitute.org email is the correct point of contact for your request. If you wrote them this past Friday, since today is Monday, you may need to give them another business day to respond to your inquiry (especially as some people are away for summer vacation). Let me know if you don’t hear from them in another couple of days.
From mglclinical on 2015-08-24
Hi Geraldine,
Thank you for your quick response, I am sorry if I was little eager, I will keep calm and wait for the response.
Thanks,
mglclinical
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2015-08-24
No worries, enthusiasm is a good thing; and our process is admittedly a bit… analog… for the 21st century :)
From zhengyuanwang on 2015-09-29
Hi Geraldine,
Not sure when mgclinical got response, but I am having similar experience with the business team. Would your sales reps make it more ‘accessible’ by industry users like us? We don’t want to get sued by Broad because our GATK software is screaming a warning message of expiry ;)
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2015-09-29
Hi @zhengyuanwang,
I’m sorry to hear that; I’ll contact my colleagues in the business team to discuss how we can resolve this problem. It may just be a temporary problem because many people take their vacation in August and September — but I’ll see what I can do. And I promise you won’t get sued when you’re putting so much effort into trying to renew your license!
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2015-09-30
Hi @zhengyuanwang, my colleagues confirmed that they’ve had some backlog buildup, but they are dealing with the situation and should be able to address your request soon. Our apologies for the inconvenience!
From Lee_CIDR on 2016-02-09
I’m a little late with this question but still can’t find a webpage with commercial license pricing – does it exist yet? Maybe a better question is whether we even need a “commercial” license as a non-profit academic medical center. Appistry convinced our DNA Diagnostic Lab to buy a license (which expires on 3/4/2016), although highly discounted due to the low throughput – a few samples/week, because some of the NGS-based tests are reimbursed (i.e., somebody pays for them). Which never seemed right to me since we’re lucky if we break even, and most of the tests (maybe with the exception of CF and Huntington’s) are for rare conditions related to a Hopkins research program and/or where a faculty member has unique expertise.
In any case, Broad seems to equate “commercial” and “for-profit,” e.g., the GATK Download page says “Important note on commercial use If you plan to use the GATK for-profit, you will need to purchase a license.” Which implies that non-profit use does not require a license. However, the terms of your free license state right at the top “FOR ACADEMIC NON-COMMERCIAL RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY,” so once again I’m not sure what to do if some use is not strictly research but all use is definitely not-for-profit. Late this summer we’re bringing together several clinical and research labs as Johns Hopkins Genomics, a truly translational entity that will further blur the clinical/research boundary (try explaining that to the poor IT security guys who just finishing setting up a shiny new and highly secured clinical network), so such questions are increasingly urgent.
Geraldine, could we please get a definitive statement on whether or not we have to buy a commercial license? If it makes a difference all of the labs in question are part of the JHU School of Medicine, not the Johns Hopkins Health System, although both are non-profits anyway.
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2016-02-09
Hi @Lee_CIDR,
The determination of what constitutes for-profit and/or commercial use (which we do distinguish) can be a bit complicated, and I’m not the right person to give you a definitive answer to your question. I can tell you as an example that if Broad’s Genomic Services were a separate entity from us, they would have to pay for a GATK license because even though they are part of a non-profit organization (the Broad) they function as a fee-for-service organization the majority of the time. Yet I believe we have in the past waived the licensing requirement for healthcare related organizations that function as non-profits for the majority of the time.
Have you discussed your case with the folks at the softwarelicensing@broadinstitute.org email address? I’m not involved in the final determination of who needs to purchase a license, but for the record your case sounds similar to other cases where we were able to waive the license or at least find a price point that was considered fair and reasonable for all parties.
Feel free to cc me (vdauwera at broad etc) in your email to the licensing folks.
From Lee_CIDR on 2016-02-09
Thanks Geraldine, although not definitive your answer is very helpful. We have not yet contacted the Broad software licensing team about this but I will do so next and cc you. Thanks again!
From bcantarel_utsw on 2016-08-29
I was wondering if there is still a backlog, my colleagues and I have sent a few inquiries as to pricing, the last one a week ago, to get a quote for the licensing. We’d like to include this into a budge for our institute, but just need a ballpark. Thanks!
From Geraldine_VdAuwera on 2016-08-29
@bcantarel_utsw Apologies for the delay, summer time tends to be slower due to vacations. Will check with the team, if you can please send me an email at vdauwera at broadinstitute dot org.