The U.S. Is Quietly Giving A Chinese Billionaire A Monopoly on Cancer

The federal government plans to give the exclusive license for a new liver cancer drug to a pharmaceutical company owned by China’s 63rd-richest man, HuffPost has learned.

The National Institutes of Health proposes to grant Salubris Biotherapeutics, Inc. exclusive worldwide rights to a portfolio of patents on antibody drugs used to treat liver cancer, according to a notice published Monday on the Federal Register.

The firm is the Maryland-based arm of Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., the Chinese drugmaker valued at roughly $5 billion and run by former Shenzhen mayor and billionaire Ye Chenghai, who with his family controls about 66 percent of the company.

The proposal comes amid growing public backlash to deals that give pharmaceutical companies monopolies on drugs and vaccines developed through taxpayer-funded research without requiring them to sell the drugs back to Americans at a reasonable price.

Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed a new rule that would require federal agencies and federally funded nonprofits, such as research universities, to secure a reasonable pricing agreement from a manufacturer before granting it exclusive rights to drugs, vaccines or other health care products.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5989d2d3e4b0d793738a5f1e?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009