For Immediate Release: April 11, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On March 28, the NIH delayed implementation of its Access Planning policy by 4 months, from 1 June 2025 to 1 October 2025, to “accommodate further stakeholder outreach discussion.” The policy, released 10 days before the presidential transition, was the Biden Administration’s final policy to lower prescription drug costs. What is alarming here is that the policy is already the result of much stakeholder outreach, finalized after 2 months of public comments, with nearly 50 stakeholders responses, and public round tables with stakeholders, including UAEM.
Buried under the recent tidal wave of change at the NIH, this seemingly benign delay signals the precariousness of a safeguard on pharma’s use of publicly funded research, requiring attention.
Americans pay the highest prices on prescription drugs in the world, even though the NIH invests upwards of $48 billion taxpayer dollars annually into the development of many, if not most, of these technologies. Yet, once privatized, these technologies are often priced out of reach worldwide.
The new policy requires private biopharma corporations interested in commercializing medical inventions from federal labs to submit Access Plans with their applications. These plans would explain how they would ensure access to health technologies—drugs, biologics (e.g., vaccines), or medical devices—in the U.S. and Lower-and Middle-Income countries.
UAEM, in partnership with the Medicines Patent Pool and other stakeholders, developed the first Affordable Access Planning Policy for UCLA in 2020. It has since been adopted by at least 5 American research universities without, as the licensing directors say, any industry pushback.
“The administration’s move to delay this policy after over a year of input is suspect,” said Sahil Mane of UAEM’s North America Access Team. “The policy is a major step in the right direction. If further discussions are necessary, they need to be transparent, and public interest organizations like UAEM must have a seat at the table”
Access Planning can save lives. We need your help to raise awareness, for its defense, as media outlets have yet to cover the announcement. The Access Team is available for further comment or clarification.
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