https://chrismorten.com Christopher J. Morten Sun, 21 Jul 2019 21:07:46 +0000 https://chrismorten.com en https://chrismorten.com/Home-Image-Scroll Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:08:38 +0000 Christopher J. Morten https://chrismorten.com/Home-Image-Scroll https://chrismorten.com/Info Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:08:39 +0000 Christopher J. Morten https://chrismorten.com/Info Chris Morten is a lawyer who currently teaches at Columbia Law School.  He is the director of Columbia’s Science, Health & Information Clinic (SHIC). Chris’s clinical work, research, and writing focus on access to knowledge, with particular emphasis on science, technology, and health justice.  Much of his work seeks to expand access to medicines and access to information about medicines.  Before coming to Columbia Law in 2021, Chris worked at New York University School of Law, as the Deputy Director and Clinical Teaching Fellow of NYU’s Technology Law and Policy Clinic.  He was also a Fellow at NYU’s Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy.  Before that, Chris worked at Yale Law School, where he was Staff Attorney and Research Scholar in Law at the Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency and Supervising Attorney and Clinical Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School’s Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic.  Chris remains a Visiting Fellow of the Global Health Justice Partnership and an Affiliated Fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.  Before beginning his law teaching career in 2018, Chris worked as a litigation associate and science advisor at Goodwin Procter L.L.P. and as a patent agent at Baker Botts L.L.P.  He clerked for the Honorable Timothy B. Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 2015 to 2016.   Chris received his J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from New York University, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in chemistry, summa cum laude, from Columbia University.  In his graduate research in the Jamison Group at MIT, Chris investigated the biomimetic synthesis of a class of natural products known as the ladder polyethers.    CV https://chrismorten.com/Litigation-Policy Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:51:30 +0000 Christopher J. Morten https://chrismorten.com/Litigation-Policy IMPORTANT NOTE: This “Legal Work” page is out of date! It was last updated thoroughly in early 2022. For a selection of more recent legal work, please see the webpage of Columbia Law School’s Science, Health & Information Clinic. Ongoing projects: Work with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) to expand public access to valuable scientific data UAEM is a global, student-driven, nonprofit, grassroots organization focused on health justice, including protecting and expanding access to medicines and ensuring that universities’ biomedical research efforts serve the public interest.  One important element of UAEM’s work is pushing universities—and drug companies, government labs, and other entities that conduct clinical trials—to share the results of their trials with the public, via the ClinicalTrials.gov website, as a 2007 federal law requires.  In the winter of 2021, UAEM and the NYU TLP Clinic partnered in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)-based investigation of the (so-far meager) efforts of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enforce that federal law.  In April 2021, the FDA announced it had finally undertaken a long-overdue, first-of-its-kind enforcement action.  In May 2021, the NYU students driving the project—Joe Rabinovitsj (JD ’21) and Celine Rohr (JD ’22)—published an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, urging the next FDA Commissioner to step up the agency’s enforcement.  Media: STAT News (April 28, 2021). Work with PrEP4All to expand access to HIV medicines & anti-COVID technologiesPrEP4All is a group of activists, scientists, and healthcare providers dedicated to igniting political action to put life-saving HIV and COVID-19 medications into the hands of everyone who needs them. HIV: A centerpiece of PrEP4All’s work is demanding wider access to a once-a-day pill that prevents HIV infection: HIV prophylaxis, also known as “PrEP.”  The NYU TLP and Yale MFIA and GHJP clinics currently represent PrEP4All in this effort.  In March 2019, PrEP4All and the Yale clinics helped break the story that it is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a public agency, that invented and patented HIV PrEP, not Gilead Sciences, Inc., the drug company that holds a monopoly on PrEP in the United States. In December 2019, PrEP4All and the NYU clinic filed a petition challenging Gilead’s applications for patent term extension on U.S. Patent Nos. 7,390,791 and 7,803,788, which cover Descovy and other HIV drugs that contain tenofovir alafenamide (TAF).In January 2021, PrEP4All and the NYU clinic jointly published a report, “§ 1498: A Guide to Government Patent Use.” The report, subtitled “A Path to Licensing and Distributing Generic Drugs,” provides practical information on how the U.S. government can use a long-standing U.S. federal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1498, to authorize use of any patented technology—including patented HIV drugs—by or for the government and the American public. Publications and Filings: March 12, 2019 Statement on CDC’s Patents for PrEP (and 2-page summary thereof).May 16, 2019 Letter of Amy Kapczynski and Christopher Morten to the House Oversight Committee in connection with HOC’s hearing, “HIV Prevention Drug: Billions in Corporate Profits after Millions in Taxpayer Investments.” November 18, 2019 Post in Health Affairs Blog by Christopher Morten and Amy Kapczynski: “United States v. Gilead: Can a Lawsuit Yield Better Access To PrEP?” December 4, 2019 Petition to the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging Gilead’s applications for patent term extension on U.S. Patent Nos. 7,390,791 and 7,803,788. December 9, 2019 Petition to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.January 2021 report, “§ 1498: Guide to Government Patent Use. A Path to Licensing and Distributing Generic Drugs.”March 2021 white paper, “Recommendations for Statutory Reform of the Patent Term Extension System to Increase Public Accountability and Fight Soaring Drug Prices.”January 2022 letter of HIV/AIDS groups to DOJ and HHS seeking update on the United States v. Gilead litigation: “Two Year Anniversary Letter.” Media: Washington Post (March 26, 2019), STAT News (April 10, 2019), Washington Post (April 24, 2019), Bloomberg News (May 17, 2019), STAT News (July 2, 2019), Financial Times (August 18, 2019), Washington Post (November 7, 2019), NBC News (November 7, 2019), New York Times (November 8, 2019), Science (November 8, 2019), Washington Post (December 5, 2019), STAT News (December 6, 2019), The Guardian (December 9, 2019), STAT News (December 12, 2019), STAT News (December 13, 2019), Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review (December 16, 2019), STAT News (January 26, 2021). Coalition Letter: January 31, 2020 letter of the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and 30+ advocacy and civil society groups in support of PrEP4All’s December 4, 2019 petition. COVID-19 treatments:In May 2020, PrEP4All and the NYU clinic published a report, “The U.S. Government’s Apparent Co-Ownership of Patents Protecting Remdesivir,” showing that the U.S. government likely co-invented and co-owns core patents on the COVID-19 treatment remdesivir. Publication: July 2, 2020 Op ed by Christopher Morten, Christian Urrutia, and James Krellenstein in STAT, “A powerful law gives HHS the right to take control of remdesivir manufacturing and distribution.” Media: Washington Post (May 26, 2020), Law360 (May 27, 2020), The Intercept (June 2, 2020), BMJ (June 3, 2020), New York Times (July 28, 2020), CNN.com (September 9, 2020), STAT News (December 7, 2020), San Francisco Chronicle (January 27, 2021). COVID-19 vaccines:In April 2021, the NYU clinic published a report, “U.S. 10,960,070: The U.S. Government’s Important New Coronavirus Vaccine Patent,” that analyzes a foundational patent on coronavirus vaccines owned by the U.S. government.    Publication: Christopher Morten, Laurel Boman (NYU JD ’21), Joseph Rabinovitsj (NYU JD ’21), and Celine Rohr (NYU JD ’22), “U.S. 10,960,070: The U.S. Government’s Important New Coronavirus Vaccine Patent” (April 14, 2021). Media: New York Times (March 21, 2021), Washington Post (March 25, 2021), STAT News (March 25, 2021), Financial Times (April 21, 2021), Common Dreams (April 23, 2021), LA Times (April 30, 2021), LA Times (May 6, 2021).Coalition Letter: On March 24, 2021, a coalition of six organizations (led by PrEP4All) and 15 leading experts on public health and health policy sent a public letter to HHS, NIH, and NIAID, calling on them to leverage the NIH’s coronavirus patent to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines. Seife v. Food and Drug Administration et al., No. 1:17-cv-3960 (S.D.N.Y.), No. 20-4072 (2d Cir.)Pending litigation with Yale MFIA and the First Amendment Clinic at Cornell Law School on behalf of Charles Seife against the Food and Drug Administration under the Freedom of Information Act.  The suit seeks clinical trial data on a controversial prescription drug, Sarepta’s eteplirsen (Exondys 51) product, and addresses the proper scope of information that may be withheld by federal agencies as trade secrets and “confidential commercial information.”   Past projects:Letter to Senator Warren on Government Patent Use and Bayh-Dole Rights In April 2022, I co-wrote a letter to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, outlining legal tools the Biden administration could use to lower costs of certain prescription drugs without waiting for new legislation from Congress. The letter focuses on government patent use under 28 U.S.C. § 1498 and government rights under the Bayh-Dole Act. The letter was co-written with Amy Kapczynski, Aaron Kesselheim, David Herman, and Christopher Umanzor. Media: Politico (Apr. 25, 2022), Law360 (Apr. 25, 2022), Daily Kos (Apr. 26, 2022), CQ Roll Call (Apr. 28, 2022). Public letter, “The US Government Should Disclose the Costs of Clinical Trials it Funds to Make Medical Tools Affordable, Accessible, and Suited to Public Health Needs.” In January 2022, I joined Doctors Without Borders USA, Doctors for America, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) North America, and Knowledge Ecology International, and dozens more civil society organizations to call on the Biden administration to disclose government-held data on the costs of clinical trials. Media: FierceBiotech (Feb. 1, 2022). GlaxoSmithKline v. Teva, No. 18-1976 (Fed. Cir.) In October 2021, I joined a brief of 14 law professors led by Charles Duan in support of Teva’s petition for rehearing en banc. The brief identifies newly-created conflicts between the Patent Act’s induced infringement provision (35 U.S.C. § 271(b)) and the Hatch-Waxman Act. Comment submitted to HHS, identifying a gap in the HIPAA Privacy Rule that subjects transgender and other people to discrimination in health care In April 2021, Ethan Lin (JD ’21) of NYU’s Technology Law & Policy Clinic submitted a public comment to the Department of Health of Health & Human Services (HHS) concerning the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.  The comment identifies an important gap in the existing rule: it permits, and encourages, frictionless sharing of protected health information from health care provider to health care provider, without notice or consent to patients.  For many patients, opting out is effectively impossible.  Because protected health information, such as prescription drug records, can “out” transgender, HIV+, and other people disproportionately subject to discrimination from health care providers, it can discourage them from seeking care.  The comment recommends revisions to the HIPAA Privacy Rule to correct the gap.  Counseling the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) on Intellectual Property MattersDuring the Spring 2021 Semester, two student attorneys in the Technology Law and Policy (TLP) Clinic at NYU Law—Arthi Naini (’22) and David Wechsler (’21)—represented the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) and counseled the organization on intellectual property matters.  Naini and Wechsler advised OSHWA on updates to its open source hardware certification program. Wechsler (with support from Naini) also co-wrote a blog post with Michael Weinberg, a member of OSHWA’s board of directors, on the popular patent law blog PatentlyO.  The blog post was sparked by a recent Federal Circuit decision, GlaxoSmithKline v. Teva, that suggested an interpretation of patent law that could be detrimental to OSHWA, its members, and the broader open source community. Helping the Internet Archive Answer Congressional Questions on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) In the Fall 2020 semester, student attorneys in the NYU School of Law Technology Law and Policy (“TLP”) Clinic helped the Internet Archive prepare and submit answers to questions from U.S. Senator Thom Tillis on potential reforms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Internet Archive’s answers stressed the importance of the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions to it and other nonprofit digital libraries. Clinical Trial Cost Transparency at the National Institutes of Health: Law and Policy Recommendations This August 2020 white paper by NYU Technology Law & Policy Clinic student attorneys Ariella Barel (NYU Law ’20) and Laurel Boman (NYU Law ’21) explains why and how the National Institutes of Health can and should begin to share disaggregated data on the costs of the clinical trials it runs and funds. It also explains how Congress could legislate to make cost sharing mandatory.  Seife & Lurie v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al., No. 1:18-cv-11462 (S.D.N.Y.)Successful litigation with the NYU Technology Law & Policy Clinic and Yale MFIA on behalf of Charles Seife and Peter Lurie against the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services under the Administrative Procedure Act. Our court victory expanded the public’s legal right to obtain information on clinical trials of prescription drugs and medical devices via the ClinicalTrials.gov website.   Media: STAT News (December 11, 2018), Law360 (December 10, 2018), FDALawBlog (December 11, 2018), STAT News (February 25, 2020), Endpoints News (February 26, 2020), Science (February 26, 2020), The Scientist (February 26, 2020), BMJ (March 2, 2020), National Law Review (March 5, 2020), FDALawBlog (March 9, 2020), Law360 (March 16, 2020), NYU Scope (April 3, 2020), STAT News (August 4, 2020), STAT News (August 18, 2020), BMJ (August 24, 2020), AJMC (February 2021).   The Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, No. 19-2420 (2d Cir.) On February 28, 2020, the NYU Law Technology Law & Policy Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of artists Latipa (née Michelle Dizon) and Việt Lê.  The brief, filed in support of appellee the Warhol Foundation, explains why fair use in copyright law should protect—and, indeed, does already protect—a broad range of artistic and cultural practices that includes critique and recontextualization.  Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., No. 18-956 (U.S. Supreme Court) On January 13, 2020, the NYU Law Technology Law & Policy Clinic filed a merits-stage amicus brief on behalf of a coalition of small, medium, and open source technology organizations led by Mozilla in Google v. Oracle.  The brief, filed in support of petitioner Google, asks the Supreme Court to reverse the Federal Circuit’s holdings that copyright law stands in the way of reimplementation.  Our brief explains how the Federal Circuit’s decisions harm competition, particularly small and open source developers, and conflict with longstanding copyright precedents. Media/Blogs: Mozilla Blog (January 13, 2020), The Hill (January 13, 2020), ADTmag (January 14, 2020) In re Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices & Products Liability Litigation, No. 18-2259 (3d Cir.) In November 2018, Yale’s Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency (CRIT) and Public Justice filed a joint amicus brief arguing that documents that likely contain information on GSK’s false marketing of its diabetes medication rosiglitazone (Avandia) should be unsealed and made available to the public.  The Third Circuit issued a favorable decision in May 2019, clarifying the legal standard for sealing and reaffirming the public interest in access to court documents.   Preventing the Use of Courts to Shield Essential Health Information: Rethinking Confidentiality in Medical Product Litigation This white paper edited by Jeanie Kim and Margaret McCarthy provides a guide for lawyers seeking to fight overprotection of secrecy in pharmaceutical and other medical product cases.   https://chrismorten.com/Legal-Writing Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:08:39 +0000 Christopher J. Morten https://chrismorten.com/Legal-Writing If you’re unable to get any of these articles—e.g., because of a broken link or paywall—please email me. Law review articles: Christopher J. Morten, The Second Patent Bargain, 111 Iowa L. Rev. 1583 (2026). Christopher J. Morten, Gabriel Nicholas & Salomé Viljoen, Researcher Access to Social Media Data: Lessons from Clinical Trial Data Sharing, 38 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 109 (2024). Christopher J. Morten, Publicizing Corporate Secrets, 171 U. Penn. L. Rev. 1319 (2023). profiled in Written Description (August 27, 2022), Written Description (Sept. 6, 2022), Jotwell (December 1, 2022). Christopher J. Morten & Amy Kapczynski, The Big Data Regulator, Rebooted: Why and How the FDA Can and Should Disclose Confidential Data on Prescription Drugs and Vaccines, 109 Calif. L. Rev. 493 (2021). profiled in Endpoint News (April 21, 2021). Christopher J. Morten & Charles Duan, Who’s Afraid of Section 1498? A Case for Government Patent Use in Pandemics and Other National Crises, 23 Yale J.L. & Tech. 1 (2020). Mark J. Abate & Christopher J. Morten, Standing with a Bundle of Sticks: The All Substantial Rights Doctrine in Action, 28 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 477 (2018).   Published symposium: Christopher Morten (moderator); Barry Datlof, Amy Kapczynski, Donna Meuth & Zain Rizvi (panelists), Should the U.S. Government Actively Assert Its Own Patents?, 11 N.Y.U. J. Intell. Prop. & Ent. L. 19 (2021). Book chapters Charles Duan & Christopher J. Morten, Patient Access to Health Device Data: Toward a Legal Framework, in DIGITAL HEALTH CARE OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL CLINICAL SETTINGS: ETHICAL, LEGAL AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES (Julia Adler-Milsten, I. Glenn Cohen, Daniel Kramer & Carmel Shachar, eds., 2024).Chris Morten, XOXO Science, in 1996 (Matt Keegan ed., 2020). Peer reviewed publications in law, medicine, health policy & social science:Tobias Liu, Joseph S. Ross, Christopher J. Morten & Reshma Ramachandran, Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Kickback Resolutions and Associated Financial Penalties in the U.S., 2000-2025, JAMA Network Open (Mar. 13, 2026). Karim Sariahmed, Janice E. Graham, Matthew Herder & Christopher J. Morten, Public Sector Innovation and the Constraints of “Platform Thinking”: An Account of Johnson & Johnson’s Viral Vector Vaccines, 387 Social Science & Medicine 118687 (2025). Ravi Gupta, Christopher J. Morten, Yaqian Zu, Reshma Ramachandran, Nilay D. Shah & Joseph S. Ross, Approvals and Timing of New Formulations of Novel Drugs Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration Between 1995 and 2010 and Followed Through 2021, 3(5) JAMA Health Forum e221096 (May 20, 2022).covered in RAPS (May 23, 2022), Politico (May 24, 2022).Reshma Ramachandran, Christopher J. Morten & Joseph S. Ross, Strengthening the FDA’s Enforcement of ClinicalTrials.gov Reporting Requirements, 326(21) JAMA 2131-32 (November 12, 2021). covered in STAT News (November 12, 2021), the Pink Sheet (November 12, 2021), RAPS (November 15, 2021), Endpoints News (November 17, 2021), Science (November 25, 2021), STAT News (August 17, 2022).Alexander C. Egilman, Amy Kapczynski, Margaret E. McCarthy, Anita T. Luxkaranayagam, Christopher J. Morten, Matthew Herder, Joshua D. Wallach & Joseph S. Ross, Transparency of regulatory data across the European Medicines Agency, Health Canada, and US Food and Drug Administration, 49 J.L. Med. & Ethics 456 (October 19, 2021). covered in Endpoints News (October 26, 2021). Matthew Herder, Christopher J. Morten & Peter Doshi, Integrated Drug Reviews at the US Food and Drug Administration—Legal Concerns and Knowledge Lost, 180(5) JAMA Intern Med 629-30 (March 2, 2020), doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.0074.FDA’s response: Comment & Response of Janet Woodcock, Peter Stein & Kevin Bugin.Our reply: Comment & Response of Peter Doshi, Christopher J. Morten & Matthew Herder. Alexander C. Egilman, Joshua D. Wallach, Christopher J. Morten, Peter Lurie & Joseph S. Ross, Systematic overview of Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of Health and Human Services from 2008 to 2017, 4 Research Integrity & Peer Review 26 (2019). Shorter articles, book chapters, essays, and blog posts:  Reshma Ramachandran & Christopher J. Morten, Politics, Science, and the Future of FDA Drug Regulation: FDA’s Review of Mifepristone REMS as a Litmus Test, JAMA (Jan. 12, 2026) (editorial on Sophie Dilek et al., The US Food and Drug Administration’s Regulation of Mifepristone, JAMA (Jan. 12, 2026)). Christopher Morten, What’s Value in Health Care? Powerful Companies Make It Hard To Know, LPE Blog (July 22, 2025). Raj Bhargava, Nathan Brown, Amy Kapczynski, Aaron S. Kesselheim, Stephanie Y. Lim & Christopher J. Morten, The Constitutionality of Medicare Drug-Price Negotiation under the Takings Clause, 51 J.L. Med. & Ethics 961-71 (2023). Christopher J. Morten, The NIH-Moderna Vaccine: Public Science, Private Profit, and Lessons for the Future, 51 S2 J.L. Med. & Ethics 35-40 (2023) (commentary on Ameet Sarpatwari, Public Returns on Public Investment: Moderna’s Violation of the Social Contract). Christopher J. Morten, Zain Rizvi & Ameet Sarpatwari, President Biden Already Has The COVID Vaccine Recipe. He Should Share It, Health Affairs Blog (September 22, 2021). Christopher Morten, TransUnion Is a Double-Edged Sword. Should the Legal Left Wield It?, LPE Blog (September 20, 2021). Christopher Morten & Matthew Herder, We Can’t Trust Big Pharma To Make Enough Vaccines, The Nation (May 31, 2021). Christopher Morten & Charles Duan, Who’s Afraid of Section 1498?: Government Patent Use as Versatile Policy Tool, guest post on Written Description (April 24, 2020).  Christopher J. Morten, Amy Kapczynski, Harlan M. Krumholz & Joseph S. Ross, To Help Develop The Safest, Most Effective Coronavirus Tests, Treatments, And Vaccines, Ensure Public Access To Clinical Research Data, Health Affairs Blog (March 26, 2020). Christopher J. Morten, Aaron S. Kesselheim & Joseph S. Ross, The Supreme Court’s Latest Ruling on Drug Liability and its Implications for Future Failure-to-Warn Litigation, 47 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 783 (January 19, 2020). Christopher J. Morten & Amy Kapczynski, United States v. Gilead: Can a Lawsuit Yield Better Access To PrEP?, Health Affairs Blog (November 18, 2019). Christopher J. Morten & Amy Kapczynski, Assessing Drug Pricing Reform Proposals: The Real Leverage and Benefits of Competitive Licensing, Health Affairs Blog (November 4, 2019). Cynthia Lambert Hardman, Marta E. Delsignore & Christopher J. Morten, Forum Selection Clauses Can Doom PTAB Review, Law360 (April 20, 2018).Cynthia Lambert Hardman, Marta E. Delsignore & Christopher J. Morten, Inter Partes Review Estoppel Takes Shape, Law360 (January 9, 2017). Christopher Morten, Motion Practice In Inter Partes Review, Lexology (Aug. 19, 2014). Op eds and advocacy: Christopher Morten, Ben Anderson, Charles Duan, Gregg Gonsalves, Cynthia M. Ho, Amy Kapczynski, Jordan Paradise, Reshma Ramachandran, Joseph S. Ross, Michael S. Sinha, Anthony D. So, Liza Vertinsky & Kiran Zelbo, Gilead’s short-term win threatens the future of pharmaceutical public-private partnerships, STAT News (Feb. 12, 2025) Amy Kapczynski, Reshma Ramachandran & Christopher Morten, How Not To Do Industrial Policy, Boston Review (October 2, 2023) Dana Brown & Christopher Morten, Public pharma is the best solution to the ongoing problem of drug shortages, STAT News (Aug. 9, 2023) Ava Alkon, Christopher Morten & Reshma Ramachandran, Are high-cost prescription drugs the price of innovation? Disclose the costs of clinical trials, The Hill (Apr. 21, 2022). Christopher J. Morten, Reshma Ramachandran, Joseph S. Ross & Amy Kapczynski, 55 years to fulfill a records request? Clearly, the FDA needs serious reform of its data-sharing practices., The Washington Post (December 13, 2021). Gregg Gonsalves, Christopher Morten, Reshma Ramachandran & Joseph Ross, The FDA is in desperate need of some soul-searching, The Washington Post (June 17, 2021). Christopher Morten, Christian Antonio Urrutia & Zain Rizvi, Pharma’s secrecy hinders global COVID-19 vaccination. Joe Biden could fix that, The Boston Globe (June 1, 2021). Christopher Morten, To Invent Our Way Beyond COVID-19, We Need Open Science, Common Dreams (Sept. 17, 2020). Dana Brown & Christopher Morten, Four Steps to Transform the Pharmaceutical Industry and Survive the Pandemic, In These Times (Sept. 10, 2020). Dana Brown, Alex Lawson, Christopher Morten & Fran Quigley, Reclaim Public Medicine for Public Health, Common Dreams (Aug. 20, 2020). also published at PublicMedicines.org. Carrie Teicher & Christopher J. Morten, We need strings attached!, Medium (Aug. 5, 2020). Christopher Morten, Christian Urrutia & James Krellenstein, A powerful law gives HHS the right to take control of remdesivir manufacturing and distribution, STAT (July 2, 2020). Chris Morten & Alex Moss, Could a patent get in between you and a Covid-19 test? Yes, The Guardian (May 20, 2020). Christopher Morten & Charles Duan, The tension between public health and patents in the era of Covid-19, STAT (April 14, 2020). Christopher Morten, Peter G. Lurie & Charles Seife, Lost opportunities from FDA, NIH inaction when sponsors fail to report clinical trial results, STAT (April 13, 2020). Shweta Kumar, Christopher Morten & Joseph J. Ross, Promoting clinical trial transparency through the courts: A strategic lawsuit against the FDA, TranspariMED Blog (Oct. 23, 2019). Letter to the editor: Christopher J. Morten & Peter Maybarduk, letter to the editor re “The Remdesivir Patent Isn’t State Property,” The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 8, 2020). https://chrismorten.com/Media Sun, 21 Jul 2019 21:02:26 +0000 Christopher J. Morten https://chrismorten.com/Media Media appearances connected to work with PrEP4All and Public Citizen: STAT, “AIDS activists slam Biden R&D deal with Gilead over HIV prevention drug patents.” (Jul. 14, 2026) STAT, “AIDS group sues Trump administration over undisclosed agreement with Gilead.” (Apr. 28, 2026) Law360, “Meet The NYU Prof Suing Over Feds' Deal In HIV Drug Fight.” (Aug. 19, 2025)STAT, “AIDS activists sue HHS to obtain Gilead settlement over patents for HIV prevention pills.” (Aug. 1, 2025) Bloomberg Law, “Advocates Slam US-Gilead Patent Settlement Over HIV PrEP Drugs.” (Jan. 21, 2025) STAT, “Biden administration and Gilead settle long-running battle over patents for HIV PrEP pills.” (Jan. 15, 2025) TheBody.com, “Breaking Down Three Legal Actions Against Truvada-Maker Gilead.” (Jul. 24, 2024) STAT, “Biden administration appeals jury finding in battle over patents for HIV prevention pills.” (Jul. 8, 2024) New York Times, “How a Drugmaker Profited by Slow-Walking a Promising H.I.V. Therapy.” (Jul. 22, 2023) STAT, “A battle between Gilead and the U.S. government over patents on HIV prevention pills goes to trial.” (May 3, 2023) Bloomberg Law, “Gilead, US Clash in Billion-Dollar Trial on HIV-Drug Patent.” (May 2, 2023) Law360, “Gilead, DOJ Allowed To Redact Remaining Docs In Patent Row.” (Apr. 4, 2023) Bloomberg Law, “US, Gilead Pushed to Explain Sealed Docs in HIV Drug Patent Case.” (March 31, 2023) Bloomberg Law, “US, Gilead HIV Drug Patent Case Secrecy Spurs Transparency Calls.” (March 15, 2023) The American Prospect, “Moderna’s COVID Vaccine Price Hike Reveals Government’s Failure.” (January 24, 2023) STAT News, “Moderna plans to follow in Pfizer’s footsteps, charge up to $130 for Covid-19 vaccine in U.S.” (January 9, 2023) Wall Street Journal, “Who Invented Covid-19 Vaccines? Drugmakers Battle Over Patents.” (December 29, 2021) Nature, “What the Moderna-NIH COVID vaccine patent fight means for research.” (November 30, 2021) New York Times, “Moderna and U.S. at Odds Over Vaccine Patent Rights.” (November 9, 2021) Jacobin, “Joe Biden Should Share US Vaccine Data With the Rest of the World.” (September 7, 2021) EPIDEMIC Podcast S1E75: “Vaccinating the World Part I: The Problem with Patents / Chris Morten, Prithi Krishtel & Rohit Malpani.” (May 20, 2021) Financial Times, “Vaccine patent gives US government ‘leverage’ over manufacturers.” (April 21, 2021) Bloomberg Law, “Covid-19 Vaccine Deal-Making Is Fleeting Game Changer for Pharma.” (March 29, 2021) STAT News, “HHS is urged to use its patents for the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine to widen global access.” (March 25, 2021) New York Times, “Rich Countries Signed Away a Chance to Vaccinate the World.” (March 21, 2021) San Francisco Chronicle, COVID-19 drug remdesivir has been a big win for Gilead — and it got a boost from taxpayers. (January 27, 2021) STAT News, “This academic published a manual for using a little-known federal law for lowering drug prices.” (January 26, 2021) STAT News, “A payoff for U.S. taxpayers? CDC may have claims on remdesivir patents held by Gilead.” (December 7, 2020) CNN.com, “Covid-19 drug rationed in the US is plentiful in developing countries.” (September 9, 2020) STAT News, “With remdesivir, Gilead finds itself at strategic crossroads, with its reputation (and far more) at stake.” (May 5, 2020) TheBody, “PrEP Advocates Call New Gilead Patent Suit Against HHS a ‘Distraction.’” (May 4, 2020) Bloomberg Law, “Facebook Ads Cause Patients to Stop, Switch HIV Prevention Drug.”  (December 16, 2019) The Advocate, “PrEP4All Claims Gilead Held Back Safer HIV Drug.” (December 5, 2019) Washington Post, “Gilead delayed safer HIV drug to extend monopoly profits, advocates allege.”  (December 5, 2019) Modern Healthcare, “Gilead pledges to donate Truvada despite HHS patent lawsuit.”  (November 7, 2019) NBC News, “U.S. sues Gilead, claiming it owns HIV PrEP patent.”  (November 7, 2019) Financial Times, “Gilead did not seek US exclusivity on PrEP with Truvada.” (August 18, 2019) STAT News, “HHS gets a new HIV prevention patent, but will the agency demand royalties from Gilead?” (July 2, 2019) Bloomberg News, “Gilead’s $21,000 Drug Is Being Blamed for a Plateau in HIV Prevention.” (May 17, 2019) Bloomberg Law, “HIV Pill Patent Gives Trump Team Leverage in Gilead Price Talks.”  (April 12, 2019) STAT News, “AIDS activists skewer CDC for conflicting stance on collecting HIV drug royalties.” (April 10, 2019) Washington Post, “An HIV treatment cost taxpayers millions. The government patented it. But a pharma giant is making billions.” (March 26, 2019) Media appearances connected to work with Charles Seife, Peter Lurie, and UAEM: STAT News, “FDA pushes drugmakers to report missing clinical trial results.” (Apr. 13, 2026)New York Times, “F.D.A. Calls on Drug Developers to Publish Missing Data from Thousands of Trials.” (Apr. 13, 2026) STAT News, “For the first time, the FDA may fine a drug maker for failing to post clinical trial results.”  (April 28, 2021) BMJ, “FDA may fine clinical trial sponsors that don’t report data.”  (August 24, 2020) STAT News, “FDA finalizes penalties for clinical trial sponsors that don’t share data, but critics say they fall short.”  (August 18, 2020) STAT News, “Following court ruling, NIH warns drug and device companies to post missing trial data.”  (August 4, 2020) Endpoints News, “Clinical trial sponsors have to disclose decade’s worth of unreleased data, federal judge rules.”  (February 26, 2020) STAT News, “Federal judge rules clinical trial sponsors must publish a decade’s worth of missing data.”  (February 25, 2020) Other media appearances: STAT, “Genentech is soliciting research that can be used to blunt pharma reforms in Washington.” (May 22, 2026) STAT News, “Drug company penalties for paying kickbacks to doctors failed to dent bottom lines, analysis finds.” (Mar. 24, 2026) New York Times, “F.D.A. Decisions on Abortion Pill Were Based on Science, New Analysis Finds” (Jan. 12, 2026) New York Times, “Inside the Collapse of the F.D.A.” (Jul. 8, 2025) Law360, “Justices Hand Abortion Advocates An Incomplete Win.” (Jun. 13, 2024) Bloomberg Law, “Wave of Amicus Briefs Back Drug Price Plan at Trial Court Stage.” (Apr. 26, 2024) The Hill, “Drug price negotiations, legal battles set to ramp up: What to expect.” (Feb. 1, 2024) New York Times, “Six Reasons Drug Prices Are So High in the U.S.” (Jan. 17, 2024) Behind the News with Doug Henwood — October 19, 2023 Behind the News with Doug Henwood — July 27, 2023 STAT News, “Stéphane Bancel, Bernie Sanders spar over what Moderna owes the federal government.” (March 22, 2023) Politico, “Sanders readies broadside against Moderna.” (February 17, 2023) New York Times, “Moderna Sues Pfizer and BioNTech Over Covid Vaccine Technology.” (August 26, 2022) CNN.com, “Moderna files patent infringement lawsuits against Pfizer and BioNTech over mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.” (August 26, 2022) Law360, “Big Pharma Expected To Put Up Fight Over Drug Negotiations.” (August 12, 2022) Bloomberg Government, “Drug Bill Shows Limits of Democrats’ Power.” (August 10, 2022) CNBC.com, “How HIV research paved the way for the Covid mRNA vaccines.” (December 1, 2021) Endpoint News, “FDA is much worse than its regulatory peers at proactively disclosing data, researchers find.” (October 26, 2021) RAPS Regulatory Focus, “Should the US government share the Moderna COVID vaccine recipe?” (September 29, 2021) Law360, “GSK Redo Doesn't Cure Generics' 'Skinny Label' Uncertainty.” (August 9, 2021) STAT News, “A federal appeals court throws into question the fate of ‘skinny labels’ — and access to generic drugs.” (August 5, 2021) STAT News, “Advocates urge Biden to name patent office director that could transform drug pricing.” (July 19, 2021)Boston Globe, “‘It should send shock waves to the White House’: Backlash over FDA approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug is spreading.” (June 11, 2021) Bloomberg Law, “Vaccine IP Enforcement Takes Stage in Global Immunization Fight.” (April 27, 2021) Jacobin, “Moderna’s Pledge Not to Enforce the Patents on Their COVID-19 Vaccine Is Worthless.” (April 22, 2021) Bloomberg Law, “Pandemic Lays Bare Fight Over Patent Strength, Innovation.”  (August 11, 2020) Politico, “Trump’s Wild West approach to virus cure-alls is a game-changer for drugmakers.” (April 17, 2020) STAT News, “Academics and consumer groups protest FDA plan to summarize review documents.” (August 29, 2019) https://chrismorten.com/Other Sun, 21 Jul 2019 21:07:46 +0000 Christopher J. Morten https://chrismorten.com/Other Public letters and comments:Letter of Doctors for America, Consumer, Patient, and Healthcare Provider Organizations, and Experts on Drug Regulation to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee recommending legislation strengthening the accelerated approval pathway and ensuring clinical trial diversity (May 20, 2022). Letter of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA; Doctors for America; Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), North America; Knowledge Ecology International; and Christopher Morten to OSTP, HHS, NIH, and BARDA, “The US Government Should Disclose the Costs of Clinical Trials it Funds to Make Medical Tools Affordable, Accessible, and Suited to Public Health Needs” (January 31, 2022). Comments of Christopher Morten, James Krellenstein & Christian Urrutia on NIST’s proposed changes to regulations governing “Rights to Federally Funded Inventions and Licensing of Government Owned Inventions” (April 5, 2021).  Letter of academics & activists urging NIH to use government-owned patents to increase vaccine access (March 24, 2021). Letter of researchers, scholars, professionals, and activists to Secretary Alex Azar, seeking disclosure of trial protocols and other information on COVID-19 vaccine candidates (October 20, 2020). Comments of Christopher Morten on FDA’s “Listing of Patent Information in the Orange Book” (August 30, 2020). “A Time for Solidarity”: Open letter of scholars on anti-Black racism and defunding the police (August 24, 2020). Letter led by the COVID-19 Working Group of New York City to the National Institutes of Health, “The NIH must not cancel awarded grants for purely political reasons” (May 11, 2020). Letter of Doshi et al. re: Docket No. FDA-2019-N-2012 (“New Drugs Regulatory Program Modernization: Improving Approval Package Documentation and Communication”) (August 23, 2019).  Letter of Amy Kapczynski and Christopher Morten to the House Oversight Committee in connection with HOC’s hearing, “HIV Prevention Drug: Billions in Corporate Profits after Millions in Taxpayer Investments” (May 16, 2019).  Chemistry publications:  Mousseau, J. J.; Morten, C. J.; Jamison, T. F. “A Dioxane Template for Highly Selective Epoxy Alcohol Cyclizations,” Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 10004-16. Morten, C. J.; Byers, J. A.; Jamison, T. F. “Evidence that Epoxide-Opening Cascades Promoted by Water Are Stepwise and Become Faster and More Selective After the First Cyclization,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 1902-08. Morten, C. J.; Byers, J. A.; Van Dyke, A. R.; Vilotijevic, I.; Jamison, T. F. “The Development of Endo- Selective Epoxide-Opening Cascades in Water,” Chem. Soc. Rev. 2009, 38, 3175-92. Morten, C. J.; Jamison, T. F. “New Strategies for the Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Substituted ʻSkippedʼ Diepoxides,” Tetrahedron 2009, 65, 6648-55. Morten, C. J.; Jamison, T. F. “Water Overcomes Methyl Group Directing Effects in Epoxide-Opening Cascades,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 6678-79.