2017: Senator Angus King amendment to National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on federally funded drugs, vaccines

Senator Angus King proposed an amendment to National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to authorize third parties to use inventions that benefited from DoD research funding, when prices exceed the median price charge in the seven largest economies with per capita incomes at least half the per capita income in the United States.

The amendment, which was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee but is not yet law, would effectively require Astellas, a Japanese firm, to dramatically lower the price for the prostate drug Xtandi, saving Medicare alone as much as a half billion per year, and require Sanofi to price the Army licensed Zika vaccine at a lower price.

More on the Xtandi case here: https://keionline.org/xtandi
More on the Zika vaccine case here: https://keionline.org/zika

This is the Senator’s press release from June 28.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2017
Contact: Kathleen Connery Dawe/Scott Ogden (202) 224-5344

King Announces Victories for Maine in Senate Defense Legislation
Bill authorizes funding for the construction of new military facilities in Maine, advances shipbuilding priorities, and supports Maine jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced today the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which he is a member, has approved the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with a number of provisions that he supported that will benefit Maine.

…..
Senator King also secured several additional victories, including:

FIGHTING UNFAIR DRUG PRICES: Senator King successfully included an amendment aimed at reducing drug prices of medicines and treatments that benefitted from Department of Defense research. The provision directs the DoD to authorize third parties to use inventions that benefited from Department funding whenever the price of a drug, vaccine, or other medical technology is higher in the U.S. than the median price charged in the seven largest economies that have a per capita income at least half the per capita income of the U.S.
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