Oppose the Columbia University Patent Extension!
July 19, 2000
Dear Senator:
We are writing to urge you to oppose a patent extension to Columbia University's Cotransformation Patent, which is included in section 2801 of the Agricultural Appropriations bill (S. 2536) for FY 2001. This special-interest provision should be stricken from the legislation for the following reasons:
- The effect of this amendment would be a major rewrite of the Hatch-Waxman Act, a careful compromise reached between diverse interests in 1984. There is nothing in the current law that permits a patent extension for a manufacturing process; it only applies to drugs approved by the FDA.
- Like all patent extensions, this would result in additional costs to consumers for important pharmaceuticals used to treat heart attacks, strokes, AIDS, cancers and other diseases. Columbia has already earned nearly $300 million in royalty payments for this patented process, and it was the U.S. taxpayer who funded all of the university's research. A five-year patent extension, which could be achieved should section 2801 become law, could result in an additional $500 million in royalties to Columbia for drugs already manufactured with this process -- a savings that should be passed onto consumers by drug companies if the patent extension is denied. Moreover, any new products using this technology would clearly charge consumers the considerable costs of the royalties should the patent be extended. Americans are clamoring for Congress to enact policies that would substantially reduce the cost of drugs -- not maintain their high levels or increase them.
- It would open up the floodgates for numerous drug companies whose patents are about to expire to come to Congress to demand their special deal. Schering Plough has tried to pass legislation over the past two years that would result in a patent extension on its blockbuster drug Claritin -- costing consumers an extra $7 billion. There are 20 blockbuster drugs with sales of $20 billion a year whose patents are set to expire over the next few years. Now is not the time to give the manufacturers of those drugs any hope of favorable treatment by granting Columbia's request.
- If Columbia has a legitimate claim to make, let it be subjected to Judiciary Committee hearings and full public review and debate, not be secretly added to an appropriations bill.
Again, please oppose this special-interest deal, save consumers money, and maintain the integrity of the current drug patenting process under Hatch-Waxman.
Sincerely,The Alzheimer's Association
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Center on Disability and Health
Children's Foundation
Communications Workers of America
Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Project on Technology
Consumers Union
Families USA
National Council of Senior Citizens
National Education Association
National Leadership Coalition for Health Care
National Organization for Rare Disorders
Neighbor to Neighbor
Public Citizen
Service Employees International Union
Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE)
United Auto Workers
United Church of Christ
USAction
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG)
Wilson's Disease Association
Columbia University Cotransformation Patent Extension Rider Page