House Coronavirus Bill Provision Could be Used for COVID-19/Coronavirus-Related R&D without Public-Interest Safeguards

A House coronavirus stimulus bill contains a provision concerning the use of Other Transactions Authority to fund COVID-19 diagnostics. The provision appears to authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to award $2.2 billion to private sector companies to develop… Continue Reading

KEI Letter to Speaker Pelosi Regarding Use of “Other Transaction Authority” (OTA) in Coronavirus Bill to Escape Bayh-Dole Public Interest Safeguards

For more on KEI’s work on COVID-19, see keionline.org/coronavirus. On March 23, 2020, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding a provision in the current draft of the Senate version of the coronavirus funding bill… Continue Reading

KEI Letter to US House Oversight Committee on NIH Misconduct and Lack of Transparency

On July 22, 2019, Knowledge Ecology International submitted a letter to the US House of Representative’s Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) lack of transparency in its exclusive licensing processes. Prior to executing an… Continue Reading

KEI Memo on U.S. Legislation to cap price increases on prescription drugs and to enhance the transparency of R&D costs

On April 30, 2019, KEI issued a memorandum to Congress concerning recent proposed measures to cap drug price increases and to increase the transparency of pharmaceutical research and development costs.  Congress is currently considering several bills that touch on these… Continue Reading

As Pandemic Preparedness bill clears House committee, effort to include antibiotics transferable exclusivity extension fails

On July 18, 2018, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee gave its approval to HR 6378, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, known as PAHPA. During the mark up, Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) proposed attaching… Continue Reading

18 members of the House of Representatives call for compulsory license on patents for HCV treatments

Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) was joined by 17 other members of Congress in calling upon Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to issue a compulsory license on patents for medications to treat hepatitis C, by exercising 28… Continue Reading