Press Release: Survivors for Solutions Submits Comment to NIST Regarding March-In Rights
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2024
Survivors for Solutions Submits Comment to NIST Regarding March-In Rights
The patient group fears this latest price control scheme will disincentivize medical innovation.
WASHINGTON, DC – Survivors for Solutions has submitted a formal comment urging the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to consider the implications of President Biden’s proposed use of “march-in” rights to seize drug patents. This Administrative action completely undermines the value American public-private partnerships bring to researching and developing medical breakthroughs.
The innovation ecosystem fostering this R&D collaboration is decades old, spawned by the bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act (1980) in an effort to swing open the window of opportunity for private companies to invest in universities’ unused medical discovery. However, march-in rights threaten to undo this incentive by giving the government unprecedented power to confiscate drug patents if they deem fit based on their fictitious standards.
In the comment, Survivors for Solutions Founder and Chairman John Czwartacki explained the Bayh-Dole Act was never meant to be used as a governmental weapon to gain more control over drug prices but instead crafted to create untapped value for taxpayer-funded research.
“Drug pricing policies decades ago were directed at incentivizing innovation to ensure current and future patients would have advanced treatments and therapies at their fingertips,” said Czwartacki. “I was one of those patients who benefitted from policies that empowered US innovation endeavors at a time when there were no treatments available for my MS. That innovation gave me a second chance at life, but I fear this won’t be the case for my fellows if our policymakers in Washington continue only to see red when looking at drug researchers and innovators.”
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About Survivors for Solutions
Survivors for Solutions is a nonprofit, nonpartisan patient advocacy organization created by John Czwartacki to stand up for those who are in need of solutions for their health challenges but are too often without a voice in Washington. Survivors for Solutions envisions a future that puts an end to illness through advancing cures for all diseases. Survivors for Solutions is determined to put a spotlight on the steps toward reaching that future.