Licensing

What type of license do I need to access OncoKB™ data?

A license is required to use OncoKB for commercial and/or clinical purposes, and to access OncoKB data programmatically for academic purposes. OncoKB is accessible for no fee for research use in an academic setting. When registering for OncoKB, the following license types are available:

1. Use in a commercial product (fee required)

2. Use for patient services or reports in hospital/health care setting (fee required)

3. Research use in a commercial setting (fee required)

4. Research use in an academic setting (no fee required)

What are the benefits of obtaining an OncoKB™ license?

Registered users are granted access to all the information on oncokb.org, including our proprietary treatment descriptions, and may request access to the OncoKB API (with justification).

Specifically, registered users can:

• Annotate data files (mutations, copy number alterations, fusions, and clinical data) with the OncoKB Annotator

• Programmatically access the OncoKB data via its Web API

• View descriptions of the evidence used to support a therapeutic with a level of evidence

How much will a license from OncoKB™ cost my company annually?

We have different fee structures based on your OncoKB use case. After your company registers for an OncoKB license, we will contact you to discuss your needs and license terms, including cost. Cost for research in a commercial setting is dependent on company size and the intended use of the data. Cost for annotation of clinical sequencing reports in a commercial or hospital/care setting is based on the anticipated annual volume of reports. Please reach out to [e-mail] for more information.

I have an OncoKB license. Can I have a local copy of the database?

We strongly encourage the use of our API, as it is the simplest and most up-to-date way to access OncoKB data. A local copy of the database is the last resort for licensed users who have technical/logistical/legal issues accessing the database through the API. Local copies are provided on a case-by-case basis only after extensive investigation into other possible solutions and require an additional fee. Rarely are we unable to help find a solution for users alternative to a local copy, including our European users concerned about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Can I download OncoKB™ data without a license?

Registered users can programmatically access OncoKB data via its Web API.

Additionally, all users, even without registering, can download The Cancer Gene List, the All Curated Genes List, and the Biomarker-Drug Association List from OncoKB.

The Cancer Gene List contains all genes considered cancer genes by OncoKB based on their inclusion in various sequencing panels, the Sanger Cancer Gene Census or Vogelstein et al. (2013). The Cancer Gene List details whether or not the gene is annotated in OncoKB and also includes the following information about each gene: 1) Hugo Symbol, 2) Entrez ID, 3) RefSeq, 4) identification as an oncogene or tumor suppressor, and 5) inclusion in various sequencing panels.

The All Curated Genes List contains gene information that OncoKB has curated. It includes gene isoform, RefSeq, whether the gene is an oncogene and/or tumor suppressor, the highest level of evidence for the gene, the gene summary and the gene background.

The Biomarker-Drug Association List contains all of the biomarker-tumor type-drug associations in OncoKB as well as their OncoKB level of evidence.

Can I download all your annotated variants?

We do not support the download of all annotated variants in OncoKB. We have found that analysis using downloaded data leads to outdated and inaccurate results due to our frequent data updates and the umbrella terms (e.g. “Truncating Mutations”) in the API that use logic to annotate variants. We recommend using the API for variant annotation. If you are unsure how to do this, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [e-mail] and we would be happy to assist you.

Will I be able to publish research, results and analysis obtained from using OncoKB™?

Yes, we encourage the publication of studies using OncoKB. However, you must cite OncoKB using Chakravarty et al., JCO PO 2017 and Suehnholz et al., Cancer Discovery 2023.

Can I use OncoKB to train my AI/ML model?

No. OncoKB cannot be used to train AI/ML models whether for academic or commercial purposes. With explicit permission, OncoKB may be used for benchmarking existing AI/ML models. To inquire about using OncoKB for validation/benchmarking, please reach out to us at [e-mail] so that we may understand your use case.

If our commercial organization works with academia, are we exempt from needing a paid license?

If your commercial organization works with academia, please register for License Type #1: Use in a commercial product. Our team will then follow up with you to learn more about your specific situation and use case.

How can I access and use OncoKB™ for academic research?

To use OncoKB for academic research, you can freely use all website content without the need to register or login. In order to access the OncoKB API, you will need to register your account using your institution/university email address and agree to academic use license terms. Once registered, you will have access to all OncoKB data for free including access to the OncoKB Annotator to annotate data files and the Web API to programmatically access the OncoKB data.

How can I access and use OncoKB™ in a commercial product or setting?

Ahead of accessing OncoKB data, commercial organizations will need to sign a license agreement with OncoKB which includes an annual license fee. To obtain a license and for further information, please register for the appropriate license on the API/License Page.

How can I access and use OncoKB™ for patient services or reports in a hospital/care setting?

Ahead of accessing OncoKB data for patient services or reports in a hospital/care setting, hospitals will need to sign a license agreement with OncoKB which includes an annual license fee. To obtain a license and for further information, please register for the appropriate license on the API/License Page.

I am interested in a Reports license. Will I be billed per report, per patient, per sample or per API query? Can I rerun a report after a data release, or will I be charged again?

A reports license is billed each year based on the number of reports issued with a minimum annual royalty that depends on the anticipated volume of reports. A report is defined per sample per patient. This means that re-analysis of a sample does NOT count as a new report. In fact, we encourage you to reanalyze samples periodically in order to capture the most relevant annotation in a quickly evolving precision oncology landscape. However, new samples from the same patient (e.g. metastases from a patient whose primary tumor was annotated, or rebiopsy of a tumor pre- and post-treatment) count as separate reports.

I am interested in a commercial license. Would it be possible to get trial access to see if OncoKB™ is right for me?

If you are interested in trial access of OncoKB, please contact us at [e-mail].