On March 10, 2017, KEI filed our 3rd set of comments with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) on their proposed grant of an exclusive license on Zika virus vaccine patents to the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
One set of comments focused on the Bayh-Dole Act requirements in 35 USC 209 regarding the “practical application” of the invention, which includes making the vaccine “available to the public on reasonable terms.” KEI evaluated debates over the legislative history of the Bayh-Dole Act, and the decisions of courts and other fora in the Untied States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and at the World Trade Organization with regards to the relationship between “reasonable terms” and “reasonable prices.” KEI provides a sharp and critical take on statements that former Senators Bayh and Dole expressed in the 2000s on this issue, after both began working for drug companies.
The second set of comments is a February 16, 2017 seven page note by Dr. Diane Singhroy on Zika vaccine manufacturing.
Both sets of comments as well as additional information about the Zika/Army/Sanofi vaccine patent license are available at /zika.
On March 10, 2017, Senator Bernie Sanders also published an article in the New York Times, titled “Trump Should Avoid a Bad Zika Deal,” which addressed not only the madness of licensing the Zika vaccine patents to Sanofi without an agreement on the price the U.S. will pay for the vaccine, but also the UCLA licensing of patents on the prostate cancer drug Xtandi to Astellas and Pfizer, which resulted in U.S. residents paying more than four times as much as Canada. The drug was invented on grants from the U.S. Army and the NIH. This article and others, as well as earlier comments on the Zika license by other NGOs and 11 members of the House of Representatives, is also linked to our page on Zika.