Democrats Urge NIH To Fight Price-Gouging

Fifty-one Democrats in the House of Representatives are calling on the National Institutes of Health to use its authority to help curtail rising prescription drug prices. Led by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), the lawmakers want NIH to develop guidelines for overriding patent protections on pricey drugs developed with federal funding. The 1980 Bayh-Dole Act gives NIH so-called march-in rights, which empower the agency to open up branded drugs to generics competition. The law allows an agency that funds private research to require a drugmaker to license its patent to another manufacturer to “alleviate health and safety needs which are not being reasonably satisfied” or when the benefits of the drug are not “available to the public on reasonable terms.” In a letter to NIH Director Francis S. Collins, the lawmakers argue that clear guidelines on the issue could “discourage drug price-gouging.” NIH has previously taken the stance that controlling drug prices is a congressional responsibility. It has rejected five previous requests to use march-in rights.