Technology Transfer: NIH-Private Sector Partnership in the Development of Taxol.

General Accounting Office Reports & Testimony, July, 2003

GAO-03-829 June 4, 2003

The transfer of technology from government-funded medical research laboratories to the private sector aims to have new pharmaceuticals brought to market more efficiently than would be possible for a federal agency acting alone. Much of the pharmaceutical-related technology transfer originates with research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). GAO was asked to examine the legal and financial issues involved in technology transfers as illustrated by the research, development, and commercialization of Taxol. Taxol was developed through a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between NIH and the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company (BMS) and by 2001 had become the best-selling cancer drug in history. Specifically, GAO...