Each reagent made available through the AIDS Reagent Program must be assigned a category related to commercialization rights (see Table 1 below). Therefore, donors and their institutional officials responsible for technology transfer are asked to chose one of the five categories listed in Table 1.

To promote commercialization for public health, donors are encouraged to select Category A, which sets no restrictions. When protection of intellectual property is desired, donors are encouraged to select Category D, which offers flexibility to recipients. For example, recipients from small biotechnology companies and non-profit institutions may prefer condition B, which allows them to use a reagent without a fee and requires that they negotiate an agreement with donors only if the reagent proves commercially valuable. Recipients from larger companies may prefer condition C, which could guarantee them access to the reagent at a known cost before investing large amounts in research and development