NIH won't exercise march-in for Norvir patents

NIH denied an October 2012 petition from several not-for-profits requesting that the agency exercise its march-in authority under the Bayh-Dole Act for six patents covering HIV drug Norvir ritonavir from AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). Under the act, NIH may require the holder of a patent developed using federally funded research to license the patent to other parties to "promote the utilization of inventions arising from federally supported research or development." In 2004, NIH rejected a similar petition requesting that the agency exercise its march-in rights for Norvir. AbbVie does not break out sales for the HIV protease inhibitor. ...