Sanders Questions NIH Proposal to Give Obscure Company an Exclusive Patent License for Cancer Drug

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a letter to the HHS Inspector General seeking investigation into an NIH proposal granting an exclusive patent license to an “obscure company linked to a former employee” for a treatment for cervical cancer.

Last month, NIH proposed to grant Scarlet TCR an exclusive patent license for a treatment for cervical cancer that was invented, manufactured and tested by NIH and could “potentially be worth hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars,” Sanders wrote.

“One of the leading NIH researchers of this cancer treatment appears to have a direct relationship with Scarlet TCR and may stand to gain a massive financial windfall as a result of this exclusive patent license,” he wrote.

Read Sanders’ full letter here.

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