House votes for "reasonable pricing"

The House on Thursday passed legislation by voice vote that would require drugs and other products in which the federal government has intellectual property rights to be sold "on reasonable terms." The legislation, an amendment to the HHS appropriations bill, is intended to force NIH to reinstate the reasonable pricing clause in licenses it grants to industry to commercialize drugs, according to sponsor Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). The Senate has not voted on the HHS appropriations bill.

NIH dropped reasonable pricing provisions from its licenses in 1995. At that time, then NIH Director Harold Varmus said the clause "has driven industry away from potentially beneficial scientific collaborations with PHS [Public Health Service] scientists without providing an offsetting benefit to the public. Eliminating the clause will promote research that can enhance the health of the American people." ...