Who Profits From Publicly Funded Science?
August 25 2026 - By Ethan Pereira
Since WW2, the US government has made significant contributions to world science by supporting scientific research and pursuing technological development through universities and corporations in the US. Despite the initial success, these universities and corporations began to feel dissatisfied with producing information and innovations that they could not control, and those seeking to use this technology had to navigate a mess of rules and regulations. So on December 12, 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act, a patent policy that allows Government funding recipients to maintain patent rights on inventions made with federal funding, was passed. This act had two purposes: to allow universities, corporations, and small businesses to patent and commercialize inventions arising from federally funded research.
However, this law also includes march-in rights, allowing the federal government to force universities and companies to license inventions developed with federal funding if the invention is not being commercialized or meets public health/safety needs. But over the 46 years this act has been in effect, these rights have never been invoked for any specific product. However, in 2023, the Biden administration has signaled interest in using march-in rights more actively, especially when it comes to high drug prices. They even proposed a framework that would allow federal agencies to consider whether the price of a taxpayer-funded invention makes it inaccessible to the public. This is a big shift because march-in rights were traditionally discussed in terms of whether a product existed at all, not whether it was affordable.
The proposal suggests that if a medication developed with public funding is priced extremely high, the government could require the patent holder to license the technology to competitors to increase supply and lower costs. The proposal hasn’t led to any actual march-in action yet, but it shows how the conversation around Bayh-Dole is evolving. Originally, the law was focused on encouraging innovation and commercialization. Now, policymakers are also asking whether taxpayer-funded inventions should be more accessible and affordable to the public that helped fund them in the first place.
AUTHORED BY:
Ethan Pereira
PHOTO CREDITS:
PhRMA.org
