We live in a day and age where government threatens to invade again and nothing is done. The Biden administration wants to control prescription drugs so a “march-in right” might be used. This comes from the Bayh-Dole Act which grants contractors ownership of inventions that came from government-funded research. The act was part of a time of explosive growth in drugs and technology.
Government steps in
Sens. Birch Bayh and Bob Dole authored this law 45 years ago. It saw a growth in miracle drugs and advanced technology the likes of which were never dreamed of as well as giving the economy a kick.
It spurred more than $1.3 trillion and helped over 11,000 start ups companies see success. If it was left alone, this growth rate could continue.
But the Biden administration won’t leave it alone. There’s a provision in this law allows government to “march-in” and steal the patent if the patent holder “has commercialized the product, but the price or other terms at which the product is currently offered to the public are not reasonable.”
Government definition of “not reasonable”
That provision is particularly useful in case of emergency. The legislative aides at the time worded it beautifully. It has protected patent holders for almost 50 years.
It’s helpful that Congress never established what prices would be unreasonable. Carter signed this bill in 1980 after his policies killed the economy.
Reagan enacted it and it was part of the enormous economic boom of the ‘80’s. It’s ironic that now Biden wants to use that provision to make his own lousy policies even worse.
Worthless Government
Keep in mind march-in rights would have very little or no effect on 99% of drug prices. It just doesn’t apply.
“99% of the therapies in our cohort cannot be marched-in upon, as the key patents studied do not cover the entire asset’s intellectual property. There are only 5 out of 361 pharmaceutical products in which all available MoA (mechanism of action) and CoM (composition of matter) patents include a government interest statement and could be subject to march-in rights.”
It has nothing to do with the administration swooping in to save patient access to drugs and everything to do with a power grab. Again. Progressives have asked for government to seize the pharmaceutical industry for years and impose price control, just like Hugo Chavez did to start Venezuela on its downward spiral. Price controls are never good.
