Kerrigan in Real Clear Health: Drug Patent Seizures Put American Innovation at Needless Risk

By SBE Council at 14 June, 2022, 8:23 am

In a June 13 Real Clear Health Op-Ed, SBE Council president & CEO Karen Kerrigan explains the tremendous value and importance of the 40+plus year-old Bayh Dole Act, and why abusing the “march-in” provision in the law – as some in Congress are pressing to do – would be a massive blow to U.S. innovation and innovative leadership. She writes:

“What they seek is unprecedented. Yielding to this demand would amount to an announcement that the U.S. government can invalidate patents and other intellectual property whenever it pleases. Such an action would immediately chill innovation across the economy, dealing a major blow to small businesses in particular.”

Kerrigan also notes:

“The system created by Bayh-Dole has worked exactly as planned. Since its enactment, the law has supported the creation of more than 15,000 new start-ups — many of them small businesses — while contributing an estimated $1.3 trillion to the US economy.”

Moreover, “march-in” rights have consistently been rejected as a mechanism to set prices because that is not what Bayh-Dole stipulates:

“Administrations from both parties have without exception refused to use march-in rights to meddle in prices.”

Read the Op-ed here. Learn more about the Bayh-Dole Act, on the Bayh-Dole Coalition website here.