The Relative Contributions of NIH and Private Sector Funding to the Approval of New Biopharmaceuticals.

Objectives: There remains ongoing debate regarding the relative efficacy of public (NIH) and private sector funding in bringing biopharmaceutical innovations to market. This paper investigates the significance of each party's level of funding for obtaining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization.

Methods: A cohort of research projects linked to 23,230 National Institute of Health grants awarded in the year 2000 was audited to account for patents, where the project led to a product in clinical development and potentially FDA approval.