The Role of University of California in Access to Medicines

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

While there has been increasing awareness more than ever about unethical Big Pharma, many people are unaware about the role of universities in the drug delivery pipeline. They are crucial in the discovery process and are often the root of unfair licensing and patenting practices. A study conducted to assess the contribution universities have to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies showed that of the 252 drugs approved by the FDA between 1998 and 2007, 24% of the drugs were discovered at a university. The University of California (UC) system is not exempt from this list, as they are responsible for about 10% of U.S. research output and majorly liable for universal inequity. 

So, how does it work? Universities are federally funded for all their research, which is then used to fund the initial stages of the drug development research. Research universities in particular, such as the UCs place a heavy emphasis on their large research faculty and institutions. Then, they are able to make expensive agreements and licensing deals with pharmaceutical companies, which spend a lot of money on marketing and further development. These partnerships allow for the universities to benefit while looking innocent. 

In India, over 1.5 million are affected by prostate cancer and 85% of them are diagnosed with less than three years to live. Xtandi, the only and most effective life-extending prostate drug available, is almost 40 times more expensive than per capita income. How is this related to the UCs? Xtandi was first discovered at UCLA in the 2000s—and was not until 2016 when UCLA sold its royalty interest to the U.S.-based Pfizer and the Japanese-based Astrellas. When India was able to produce a cheaper model of Xtandi, a drug that could save 1.5 million lives, UCLA filed a patent claim on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies for the drug. While it was rejected by the Indian Patent Office, the University of California rejected the claim and took it to the high court.

Fortunately, these actions have not gone unnoticed by student and global organizations. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, an international student driven organization that focuses on improving access to medicines across the world, used publicly-available data and university self-reported information to evaluate the top 60 research universities on their equity in biomedical research, finding that the UCs all ranked below average. UCSC scored a D+, UCD and UCLA a D-, and UCI ranking last with an F. These schools were graded for six smaller categories that contributed to an overall grade: equitable access to COVID-19 research, innovation of neglected diseases, global access licensing, empowerment of future global health leaders, and the transparency of clinical trials. UC Davis scored an F, C-, F, C, and a D respectively. It is crucial that students of UC Davis are aware of the poor practices of UC Davis biomedical research, while simultaneously taking action. One way is to persuade the UC Davis Office of Research Transferring Technology to sign onto the Open COVID Pledge. Research universities have an office that is dedicated to the transfer of research and technology. UC Davis’ Office of Research Transferring Technology claims to accomplish technology transfer through “...a variety of ways ranging from education and outreach programs, both within and outside the university, to commercialization through patenting, licensing and support for entrepreneurship.” Many student activists are completely unaware of the role of this office, despite the crucial role it plays in making research readily accessible. The Open COVID Pledge claims to “..to make our intellectual property available free of charge for use in ending the COVID-19 pandemic and minimizing the impact of the disease.” Supporters of this pledge include UAEM, the University of Utah, and Sage Bionetworks, to name a few. Signing this pledge is the first step in universities addressing the lack of transparency in biomedical research, more specifically COVID-19 research. In order to pressure universities to sign on, students can sign onto the Open COVID Pledge in support of their respective universities to sign on as well. Currently, there are around 2,000 signatures from UCLA students.   

It is more crucial than ever to hold universities accountable for their role in the drug delivery pipeline. Neglecting to study diseases that primarily affect lower and middle income countries because of a lower profit is harmful to the entire world. The UCs recently announced a deal with a scientific journal publishing company, Elsevier, in an effort to make research more widely accessible. Negotiations initially began in 2019, but were quickly shut down by the UCs as Elsevier refused to make all articles published by UC authors immediately free for readers worldwide. In March 2021, they finalized a deal, with the UCs paying 7% less than what the original deal suggested. This essentially means that UC researchers are able to accomplish their initial goal of publishing papers in agreement with Elsevier, while maintaining rapidly escalating costs associated with for-profit journals. While this is good news, there is still work to be done. Research relating to COVID-19 is being given to pharmaceutical companies with unfair licensing that prevents other countries from having access to this research material. This directly affects everyone, as countries that lack access to COVID-19 research, have a harder time controlling the pandemic, and create a breeding ground for more deadly variants.  

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has exemplified the disparities in access to medicine across the world. Western nations, like the U.S., have vaccinated over 200 million people, and are able to administer it to people of lower and lower eligibility. Simultaneously, lower income nations like India are seeing the worst COVID-19 conditions since the pandemic thus far, with 1 in 4 of deaths worldwide being from India. While it is overwhelming and can feel helpless in these situations, it is important to be involved at all levels, and as university students, it is pivotal that they fight against their universities unethical research practices. Joining their universities UAEM chapters, signing onto the Open COVID-19 Pledge, and making sure to stay up to date on the UC’s research practices is the first step in doing so.