RE: Enhanced ownership for Fusion19 Dec 2025 12:58
The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) can earn royalty income from antibodies (or other inventions) it discovers, but it cannot commercialise them like a private company or keep profits in the usual sense.
How it works in practice
1. Discovery & patents
If NCI scientists discover an antibody (or a target, platform, method, etc.),
The invention is typically patented by the U.S. government (not by NCI as a “company”).
2. Licensing to industry
Through NIH/NCI Technology Transfer Offices, the government can:
Grant exclusive or non-exclusive licences to biotech or pharma companies
Allow those companies to develop, manufacture, and sell the antibody as a drug
3. Royalties & licence fees
Licensed companies usually pay:
Up-front licence fees
Milestone payments
Running royalties on sales
4. Where the money goes
Royalties do not become “profit” for NCI
They are:
Returned to the U.S. Treasury and NIH
Partially shared with the inventing scientists (by law)
Reinvested into further government research
This system is governed by U.S. federal law (notably the Bayh–Dole Act).
What NCI cannot do
❌ It cannot manufacture and sell antibodies itself
❌ It cannot operate like a commercial biotech
❌ It cannot distribute profits to shareholders (there are none)