Give Kids a Fighting Chance:

Taxpayer Funded Research & Co-Ownership Act

To fund research to uncover insights into the biology of childhood cancer, including the discovery of shared genetic pathways between these disorders, while ensuring the government retains part ownership of the resulting intellectual property and patents to keep medical costs down for Medicaid recipients and low-income families.

Funding for Pediatric Cancer Research Removed from Spending Bill... To be made better.

  1. Added the provision that any grants issued by the NIH must be given 50% ownership of any resulting intellectual property that may arise upon the development of a new drug, or new indicated use for an existing drug.

    This intellectual property ownership "clause," if you will, is in employee agreements for every single faculty member at all major research institutions such as UCLA, Harvard, Stanford, etc. If research facilities pay for a scientist to develop research they partly own the IP. There is no reason the United States government should not be doing the same.

  1. Lowered the market exclusivity on a new drug or new indicated use for a drug from 7-years to 5-years.

    In order to keep the cost down for the treatment of rare diseases, we must shorten the exclusivity of a new drug or indication to 5 years. This will allow for more competitors to enter sooner to bring down the cost of a new drug or treatment protocol.

Why these Amendments are Necessary: Luxturna

Drugs such as Luxturna were developed partly through government grants. When the government does not own the intellectual property, parents and their young children pay the price...

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