Op-Ed: Now Is the Time to Maximize—Not Reduce— Investment in America’s Innovation Leaders
By: Candace DeMatteis, JD MPH, Policy Director, We Work For Health
What do North Carolina’s incredible universities have in common, in addition to diehard fans? More than you might think.
Despite longstanding rivalries, they’re united on something vital: spurring innovation.
That’s because they—and North Carolina overall—have benefited enormously from a policy environment that rewards discovery, innovation and commercializing that innovation. That effort helped transform North Carolina’s economy into a powerhouse of high-tech development and manufacturing. In turn, America overall has benefited as well. We are a healthier, more prosperous state and nation because our research universities are more than just engines of knowledge: they’re drivers of jobs, economic growth and life-saving medical breakthroughs.
Timely new research underscores what’s at stake for NC and the nation if we fail to preserve this pro-innovation ecosystem.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) examined the economic and innovative footprint in the U.S. following the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980. This law facilitates transforming new technology into products by allowing universities to retain intellectual property (IP) rights to inventions discovered through federally funded research.
The study found that from 1996 to 2020, U.S. universities developed more than half a million inventions, obtained 141,000 patents, launched 18,000 start-up companies, and generated up to $1.9 trillion in gross domestic product. In North Carolina alone, universities across the state generated more than 2,100 patents and launched over 300 start-ups.
Today, this innovation engine faces serious threats—from proposed cuts to federal health research, expanded government authority to seize patents, and proposals to impose government price controls that inhibit innovation. These changes would discourage investment, weaken the pipeline of breakthroughs, and jeopardize our global leadership. For innovation leaders like NC, the impact could be particularly acute.
Thanks to the Bayh-Dole Act and decades of federal investment, the U.S.—and North Carolina in particular—has led the world in biomedical innovation. Nearly half of all new drugs in development globally originate in the U.S. But our lead is eroding. China, India, and others are ramping up public investment in life sciences just as we pull back. For the first time, China has surpassed the U.S. in the number of clinical trials launched. Their gains—measured in jobs, economic power, and faster access to new cures—come at our expense.
Now is the time to double down on what works.
We should celebrate and strengthen policies that make it possible for universities to translate research into real-world benefits. Price controls like “Most Favored Nation” policies or efforts to weaken intellectual property protections are misguided at this pivotal moment. They are sure to undercut the very system that fuels progress.
We stand on the cusp of a new era of breakthroughs against cancers, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and heart disease. Let’s make sure that innovation happens here—in the United States, and especially in North Carolina.
Candace DeMatteis is the policy director for We Work For Health, which brings together national and local business leaders, and labor, biopharma, patient advocacy and other healthcare-related stakeholders to support policies and initiatives that foster innovation and facilitate the delivery of lifesaving and life-enhancing medicines.
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