US politicians demand NIH steps in and halts price ‘gouging’

US politicians have called on the National Institute of Health (NIH) to reveal when it would use its right to make companies license certain patents in order to stop drugs being priced too high.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett, a member of the Democrats and a representative from Texas, led the charge in urging the NIH to issue guidelines on when it would use its so-called march-in rights.

A letter signed by Doggett and various other politicians was sent to the US Department of Health and Human Services on Monday, January 11.

Under the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, the NIH retains march-in rights for patents issued on the back of government-funded research and can assert those rights when “action is necessary to alleviate health and safety needs which are not being reasonably satisfied”.

The NIH can order a right owner to license a patent to a third party and allow drugs to be subjected to generic competition.

In the letter, the politicians argue that if the NIH issues guidelines on when it will assert its march-in rights it will deter price gouging and encourage innovation by providing the industry with clarification.

The NIH has previously said that using march-in rights is an “extraordinary measure”.

In the letter, the politicians said that too many US families are currently facing an “extraordinary challenge from unreasonably priced pharmaceuticals”.

“We are confident reasonable guidance can be put in place to address price gouging while ensuring that march-in rights are exercised with transparency and fairness.

“We want pharmaceutical manufacturers to have certainty of clear guidelines that indicate when march-in rights apply,” the letter said.

Doggett was boosted by an endorsement from the Center for American Progress, which expressed its support for his attempt to tackle the “skyrocketing costs of pharmaceuticals”.