NIH "Will Not Intervene" In CellPro Patent Dispute

- The US National Institutes of Health has said it will not interveneon behalf of CellPro in a patent dispute over stem cell separation systems with Baxter International, according to a Reuters report (Marketletter August 4). CellPro had requested that a march-in provision, outlined in the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, be invoked. This provision "enables the government to license a privately-owned patent developed with federal funding if it decides that such an action is in the best interests of the public." The provision, which has never been used, will not be invoked by the NIH.