[Pharm-policy] lack of transparency at NIH on patent licenses

[James Love]

For about one year we have been asking the US government to tell us if
the US government gave Bristol-Myers Squibb an extension of the 10 year
period of exclusivity on the ddI patent license.  I have the original
ddI license agreement, which was effective February 1, 1988.  BMS was
granted a 10 year period of exclusivity, following "the date of the
first commercial sale" of ddI in the USA.  However, BMS could ask for an
extension.

The FDA approved ddI for sale on October 9, 1991.  The 10 years is up
next year, and it will be interesting to see what happens to the price
if and when it becomes a generic in the USA.   However, in the past, the
US government has liberally granted license extensions to BMS.  So we
have been asking for one year, has the US done this or not?

Most recently, I wrote the NIH licensing people and asked again.  I was
told submit a FOIA request.  These FOIA requests cause everyone lots of
grief, and take forever.  But this is the NIH policy.  If you want to
know a basic question about a drug company's exclusive rights over
government funded life saving technologies, you have to force us to
provide this information.

Fine.  We will file the FOIA, and wait months for the answer, already
having waited nearly a year since we asked Shalala's office to provide
this information.  Thanks Donna.

  Jamie



-- 
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367        | http://www.cptech.org
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