Who develops medicines?

Yes, public-private partnership was critical to developing COVID-19 vaccines in record time—but there’s a misguided perception that NIH funding is largely responsible for the creation and approval of new therapies. A new study gets to the truth. 

The study:VitalTransformation identified patents linked to NIH grants from a single year, identifying those associated with clinical trials and approved medicines, and quantifying the public and private investments made for those investigational and approved medicines. (Full Disclosure: This study was supported by BIO and PhRMA.)

The findings: 23,230 NIH grants in the year 2000 were linked—by NIH-supported patents—to 18 FDA-approved medicines in 2020.

The kicker: NONE of these medicines “reached approval without significant private investment,” says the study’s executive summary.

And: “total private investment for the 18 approved medicines exceeded NIH funding by orders of magnitude: $44.2 billion in private investment compared to $670 million in NIH funding.” More industry investment meant a greater likelihood of approval.

Why are we talking about this? Because it’s more evidence that drug pricing proposals like H.R. 3 would reduce that private investment—and thus, reduce the number of new drugs coming to market. 

Read the full report. 

What else is in the COVID-19 pipeline—and who’s working on it? Visit BIO’s COVID Therapeutic Development Tracker to find out.

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The Senate is moving forward with legislation that would strengthen biotech R&D and the bioeconomy—and help America win the great innovation race of the 21st century.

Inside baseball: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation yesterday approved the Endless Frontier Act. The measure that was ultimately adopted was modified by a substitute amendment put forward by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS). The legislation was approved 24-4. 

The bill includes language based on the Bioeconomy Research and Development Act of 2021,which was introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) last month to advance R&D, biomanufacturing, and the bioeconomy workforce.

It also contains language from bipartisan legislation to advance precision ag technology,introduced by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MI) in April.

The committee adopted more than 50 amendments—you can see them here. 

“The reason why we're moving ahead and working so diligently on this is that the race for innovation is happening around the globe,”said Sen. Cantwell. “We now need to look at our R&D infrastructure and what we in the United States are doing to be more nimble, to make sure that this technology is used to help our supply chains to grow jobs of the future, and to continue to be the leader in research and development around the world.” 

“I’m proud that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle were in agreement today that we face a unique opportunity in our race with China, and one of the best ways to beat our biggest geopolitical foe is the Endless Frontier Act,” added Sen. Todd Young (R-IN). “This bill is our chance to improve how our country innovates and develops new technologies to out-compete the Chinese Communist Party.”

The next steps: The bill will head to the Senate floor, where it could see a vote as early as next week. Meanwhile, today, the House Science Committee will mark up the National Science Foundation for the Future Act, which doubles funding at the Foundation over five years, investing more than $72 billion. Science Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) touted this bill as an alternative to Endless Frontier Act in a press release on Wednesday afternoon.   

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President Biden’s Thursday:Delivering remarks on the Colonial Pipeline shutdown at 11:50 AM ET, then meeting with the Secretaries of Commerce and Transportation and bipartisan U.S. Senators to discuss infrastructure. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: U.S. Trade Rep. Ambassador Katherine Tai will appear before the House Ways and Means Committee, where COVID-19 vaccine patent waivers, China, and Mexico are likely to be among the discussed. As noted, a House committee will mark up an important bioeconomy bill.