On September 3, 2024, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) submitted comments to the NIH regarding the “Prospective Grant of an Exclusive Patent License: Dimethyl Synaptamide for the Treatment of Autoimmune Disorders and Inflammatory Diseases” (89 FR 66730). The Federal Register notice stated that the license was to be given to “Autala Bio Inc., A Civala Company (“Autala”), incorporated in Delaware.”
KEI’s comments highlight the lack of information available for the public regarding the company set to receive exclusive rights to this taxpayer-funded technology. Neither Autala nor Civala have an apparent internet presence and Civala’s listing in the Delaware business registry only lists a registered agent company (there is no listing for Autala).
KEI also called on the NIH to include terms in its licenses that promote access to the technologies in developing countries. At present, the NIH does not report on developing country utilization of technologies licensed from the NIH. The regular practice of the NIH is to grant worldwide exclusive rights to its inventions. This leads to disparities in access, and as can be seen in our August 28, 2024 letter to the NIH, there would be little quantitative impact on incentives if the NIH were to take concrete steps to limit the geographic scope of monopolies for products in developing country markets.
KEI’s full comments are available here: KEI-Comments-NIH-License-Autala-Bio-3Sept2024