Scripps defends research deal with Sandoz

Abstract

The Scripps Research Institute says National Institutes of Health director Bernadine P. Healy mischaracterized a proposed research agreement between Scripps and Swiss-based Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp. when she portrayed it as stifling free enterprise and restricting the free exchange of ideas. Scripps, located in La Jolla, Calif., is the U.S's largest independent nonprofit biomedical research institution. NIH provides the bulk of its $100 million annual funding. Last December, Scripps negotiated an agreement with Sandoz under which the East Hanover, N.J., firm would have the right to patent Scripps' discoveries from 1997 to 2007 in exchange for $300 million over that period. NIH had no input into the agreement, Healy testified at a recent hearing before the House Committee on Small Business' Subcommittee on Regulation, Business Opportunities & Technology. Subcommittee chairman Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.) asked NIH in February to look into the deal, saying he was concerned about the potential for drug companies t...