NIH Researchers Did Not Make $710 Million in Royalties

Why do some people think that NIH researchers made $710 million in royalties during the pandemic?

The usual suspects…

NIH Researchers Did Not Make $710 Million in Royalties

Not surprisingly, the article that was first published in the New York Post and is being laundered by anti-vaccine influencers isn’t true.

So what is the truth about this kind of royalty money?

“An already fiery congressional hearing earlier this week on the role Anthony Fauci played in fighting COVID-19 veered unexpectedly into accusations by Republican lawmakers that the retired federal scientist and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “secretly” raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties from drug companies during the pandemic. The easily determined truth, however, is that nearly all of that money went to NIH branches, not to individuals.”

Accusers’ bad math: NIH researchers didn’t pocket $710 million in royalties during pandemic

Almost all of the royalty money simply goes to the NIH itself, to support further research, as researchers are capped by law as to how much of their royalties they can get each year.

“Inventors receive the first $2,000 collected from a licensee. Next, they receive 15 percent of royalties above $2,000 and up to $50,000. Finally, they receive 25 percent of royalties in excess of the first $50,000 collected each year. Each inventor cannot receive more than $150,000 in royalty payments for a calendar year.”

Information for NIH Inventors

Right now, the cap on these payments is set at $150,000 each year.

Payments that “can provide a financial incentive for researchers to conduct innovative and valuable research. They can also help to ensure that the fruits of taxpayer-funded research are commercialized and used to benefit the public, which is something that I think is of critical importance and requires much more attention.”

So no, NIH researchers did not take home $710 million in royalties, despite what folks like Adam Andrzejewski, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–GA), and Liz Churchill want you to believe.

And know that Adam Andrzejewski, as the founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks.com, knew all of this when he wrote his article for the New York Post.

More on Anti-Vaccine Propaganda

• Did COVID Vaccines Cause More Deaths Than They Saved?
• Does the CDC Own Any Patents on Vaccines?
• Who is Making Up the Novel Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories?
• COVID Shots Have Not Destroyed the Fertility of Young Men
• Accusers’ bad math: NIH researchers didn’t pocket $710 million in royalties during pandemic
• NIH – Information for NIH Inventors
• Should NIH Researchers Receive Royalty Payments for Their Inventions?
• Conservative Posts Misrepresent Royalty Payments to Fauci and Collins
• Q&A on Financial Disclosures by Government Scientists
• A senator couldn’t find Fauci’s financial info. But we did.
• The CDC licences vaccine technology, but isn’t a vaccine company; the CDC doesn’t sell vaccines, it buys and distributes vaccines free of charge
• Viral image about patents for viruses is misleading
• Financial analyst David Martin misrepresents studies and patent applications to promote the baseless claim that SARS-CoV-2 was developed as a bioweapon
• Covid-19 vaccines not ‘Mass Genocide’ of children
• UK politician suspended for comparing COVID-19 shots to Holocaust

Last Updated on June 15, 2024