Alexandria, Virginia — This week CASE filed comments in response to an inter-agency request by the federal government to receive feedback on a proposed change to the Bayh-Dole framework relating to prescription medications.
Originally passed in 1980, Bayh-Dole has served as a cornerstone law to ensure that specific medical technology funded in part by taxpayers is not shelved, under-utilized, or otherwise not fully developed for the commercial market. The new proposal would vastly expand government powers to “march-in” and commandeer the patents and licenses of medications on grounds related to pricing, which is both an enormous corruption of the letter and intent of the 1980 act as well as a direct assault on America’s research and development (R&D) in medical innovation and progress against some of the most deadly and debilitating diseases.
CASE notes in the letter that the new proposal would do irreparable damage to America’s bio-medical sector and our position as the global leader in medical innovation. This extremely invasive authoritarian proposal would also result in fewer new medications coming to market, fewer improvements in current treatments, and a sizable loss in medical know-how that all point to more severe health conditions and lower life expectancies for our nation.
The full letter can be read here.
