18 June 2019 - A pair of law makers has asked the Government Accountability Office to review how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services manages patents and licenses for medicines that were discovered, at least in part, with taxpayer dollars.

The move by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) follows a ruckus over a pricey Gilead Sciences (GILD) pill for treating and preventing HIV and the role federal government may have played in discovering the medicine, which is called Truvada.

For months, AIDS activists have criticised the drug maker for pricing they claim has caused access issues and urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to pursue royalties on a key patent that was filed by researchers whose work was funded partly with taxpayer dollars. The activists argue the government could use any royalties to help support efforts to combat the virus.

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