Health Agency Pushed to License Cancer Drug Patents to Cut Costs

The Biden administration is facing a new call to use its government authority to license an Astellas and Pfizer prostate cancer drug for generic manufacturing.

In a Tuesday letter, nongovernmental organization Knowledge Ecology International, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, and the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment urged the Department of Health and Human Services to license patents on the drug Xtandi to outside manufacturers to produce lower-cost versions of the drug.

KEI argues that two sections of the law—35 U.S.C. § 202(c)(4) and 28 U.S.C. 1498—allow the administration to license Xtandi patents to companies without having to pay ...