(C) Common Dreams
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U.S. Gives Up Right to Control Drug Prices [1]
['Warren E. Leary']
Date: 1995-04-12
The National Institutes of Health today relinquished its right to require "reasonable pricing" on drugs and other products developed in cooperation between the Government and industry. The pricing policy had been opposed by business interests since it was imposed six years ago.
Dr. Harold Varmus, director of the institutes, said the research agency would give up the option to review the introductory price of products developed from basic research sponsored by the Government. The policy was adopted in 1989 in response to criticism that drugs developed with substantial Government help were being marketed at excessive prices.
Dr. Varmus said reviews of the policy indicated that the pricing clause had driven industry away from many collaborations with N.I.H. scientists that could have benefited the public. "Eliminating the clause will promote research that can enhance the health of the American people," he said.
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, which campaigned against the pricing clause, praised the decision and said it removed a significant stumbling block for cooperation between industry and the institutes, the main Federal agency conducting and sponsoring biomedical research.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/12/us/us-gives-up-right-to-control-drug-prices.html
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