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Laboratoire Hra Pharma · Ulipristal Acetate

Ella: patented from NIH-funded research

NIH (its own scientists) reported a patent on this drug to NIH as an invention made with NIH grant money. Laboratoire Hra Pharma lists it with the FDA as protecting Ella.
Patent reported to NIH as grant-funded

Medicare paid, 2024

—

before rebates

Medicare, 2020–2024

$0

Medicaid paid, 2024

$5.2M

before rebates

NIH grants behind the patents

$126K

whole-grant totals, not the drug's cost

The public record, link by link

  1. 1 · Public money

    NIH grant to National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, $126K in all.

  2. 2 · Patent

    9283233, reported to NIH under ZIADK075118.

  3. 3 · FDA approval

    Approved Aug 13, 2010, held by Laboratoire Hra Pharma (NDA 022474).

  4. 4 · Public pays

    Medicaid paid $5.2M in 2024. It is not in Medicare's drug spending files.

The grants

Totals are everything NIH paid on each grant since 1985. A grant usually funded more than this one invention.
GrantResearchYearsNIH paid
ZIADK075118

NIDDK, NIH's own lab

Steroid Hormone Action In Female Reproduction

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

2016–2021$126K

The patents

Patents the FDA lists for this drug that were also reported to NIH as grant-funded inventions.
  • US 9283233

    Method for on-demand contraception

    Reported by NIH (its own scientists)

    FDA-listed expiry Apr 13, 2030

Laboratoire Hra Pharma's side

Drug makers pay for the clinical trials that take a compound from the lab to FDA approval, and they often license the patent from the university and pay royalties on sales. Those terms are not public. The FDA's approval records for Ella are linked above, and Laboratoire Hra Pharma's page shows its other drugs on this list. If Laboratoire Hra Pharma wants to add its account, we will publish it here.

How this is built. Universities and companies that use NIH grants must report the inventions those grants produce to NIH, under the Bayh-Dole Act. NIH publishes the patent numbers and the grants they were reported under. We match those patents to the patents drug makers list with the FDA for each approved drug (the Orange Book), then add what Medicare Part D, Part B and Medicaid paid for each drug. Only patents still listed with the FDA appear, so drugs whose patents have expired drop out, and biologics, which the Orange Book does not cover, are not here yet.

What the numbers mean. "NIH grants" is everything NIH paid out on the grants a patent was reported under, from 1985 on. A grant usually paid for more than the one invention, so it is not the cost of the drug. Medicare and Medicaid figures are gross spending before the rebates drug makers pay back, which are confidential. Companies also paid for the clinical trials that took these drugs to approval; each drug page links the company's own filings.

Sources: NIH RePORTER patents reported under NIH grants (from iEdison); NIH RePORTER project funding; FDA Orange Book patent and product files; Medicare Part D Spending by Drug; Medicare Part B Spending by Drug; Medicaid Spending by Drug. Updated 2026-11-05.