Fred D. Ledley is a physician-scientist, entrepreneur, and educator, who has authored >200 articles on topics ranging from molecular human biology and biotechnology, to STEM education, business, and bioethics. His work has contributed to emerging knowledge and policy related to human gene therapy, personalized medicine, and the translation of science for public value. He is currently Professor of Natural & Applied Sciences and Management, and Director of the Center for Integration of Science and Industry, at Bentley University. He served previously on the faculties of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, and Texas Children’s Hospital. He was a founder of several biotechnology companies, including GeneMedicine, where he served as Vice President Research & Development, and Varigenics, where he served as President & CEO. Dr. Ledley has a B.S. in physical science from the University of Maryland and a M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine, trained in Pediatrics and Genetics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and was an American Cancer Society post-doctoral fellow with Dr. David Baltimore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of a novel, Sputnik’s Child.
Fred Ledley
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US Tax Dollars Funded Every New Pharmaceutical in the Last Decade
Amid debates over costs—and profits—from a coronavirus vaccine, a new study shows that taxpayers have been footing the bill for every new drug approved between 2010 and 2019
Government as the First Investor in Biopharmaceutical Innovation: Evidence From New Drug Approvals 2010–2019
Amid debates over costs—and profits—from a coronavirus vaccine, a new study shows that taxpayers have been footing the bill for every new drug approved between 2010 and 2019
Big Pharma Wants to Pocket the Profits From a COVID Treatment You Already Paid For
Gilead’s shareholders want exorbitant profits from Remdesivir, even though it was the public that enabled its development.
The Fleming Myth and the Public Sector Contribution to Discovery and Development of New Cancer Drugs
Abstract, “basic science” research is essential to drug discovery. It is also largely funded by the public sector.
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Ledley, Cleary & Jackson’s INET working paper is cited in Missoulian
“But COVID vaccines are by no means unique — most medicines developed and approved in the United States involve taxpayer investment. Between 2010 and 2019, every single new medicine approved by the Food and Drug Administration included taxpayer-funded research through NIH. Drug companies patent the drugs we pay to develop and then charge us exorbitant prices for them that increase every year — sometimes twice a year.” — Terry Minow, Missoulian
Senator Baldwin cites INET's working paper on pharmaceutical funding in the HELP Committee meeting
“From 2010 to 2019 the FDA approved 356 drugs. Recent research from Bentley University finds that NIH funding contributed to every single new drug approved. At a cost to the tax payer of roughly $230 billion dollars. In spite of this contribution the NIH is listed on only 27 of those patents. This suggests that while tax payers provide funding for the bulk of the early stage research they do not get patent protections supposedly secured by the by dole act. In essence American tax payers are paying the highest prices in the world for drugs they already paid to help develop.” — Senator Tammy Baldwin
INET working paper is cited in a corrective letter to the editor of the Washington Post
“Her omission understates drug spending by almost one-third, or about $145 billion. She claimed most drugs are developed in pharmaceutical firms, but funding from the National Institutes of Health contributed to all 356 new drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2010 to 2019. Drug corporations take a handoff after the most risky research is done and a drug shows promise.” — David Mitchell
INET working paper on NIH's funding of new pharmaceuticals is cited
“Third, U.S. taxpayers foot a huge portion of the bill for basic science leading to new drugs. The National Institutes of Health is the single largest source of biomedical research in the world. In fact, NIH funding contributed to research associated with every single new drug approved by the FDA from 2010-2019, totaling $230 billion according to a recent report.”