Vaccine tax credit

WASHINGTON - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation that would provide a tax credit for research and development on vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. The Lifesaving Vaccine Technology Act (H.R. 1274) was drafted with the assistance of AIDS activists.

H.R. 1274 would provide a 30 percent credit on qualified R&D expenditures on vaccines for diseases that kill 1 million or more people annually. The credit also would apply to R&D costs for microbicides to prevent these diseases. Small companies could choose to pass a portion of the credit to equity investors who finance their R&D for one of the priority vaccines...