Panel Calls for crada royalties

The US National Institutes of Health should consider replacing the currently reasonable pricing clause in Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with deals based on the payment of royalties, according to a committee of pharmaceutical industry and NIH representatives.

However, committee joint chairman Robert Nussenblatt said such a move was only one of many options to be considered by NIH director Harold Varmus during his consideration of the CRADA approval process. For example, it was also suggested that licensing agreements should be tightened to ensure that innovative new technologies are commercialized.

New CRADA guidelines are due to be published by the NIH in mid-September.