cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9331249
Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Biden Administration on Thursday announced it is setting new policy that will allow it to seize patents for medicines developed with government funding if it believes their prices are too high.
The policy creates a roadmap for the government’s so-called march-in rights, which have never been used before. They would allow the government to grant additional licenses to third parties for products developed using federal funds if the original patent holder does not make them available to the public on reasonable terms.
Under the draft roadmap, seen by Reuters, the government will consider factors including whether only a narrow set of patients can afford the drug, and whether drugmakers are exploiting a health or safety issue by hiking prices.
“We’ll make it clear that when drug companies won’t sell taxpayer funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less,” White House adviser Lael Brainard said on a press call.
Come on Wakix! I can’t afford $22,000/month for my Narcolepsy medication, but I desperately need it. Where does one look to see if their medication was government funded?
Here is the trace I did for Clopidogrel (Plavix).
https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB00758
Search for PATENTS. Click on the oldest one listed to find the original patent assignment. Open that link. Go down to LEGAL EVENTS. In the case of Clopidogrel, it was first granted to a French company, Sanofi. So, probably not US research grants. US universities are patenting their research much more these days, and would grant a license to a commercial manufacturer.
You’re wonderful. Sadly, Wakix was funded by an independent company.