Eysuvis: patented from NIH-funded research, then Medicare paid $13M for it in 2024

Johns Hopkins University and Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported 16 patents on this drug to NIH as inventions made with NIH grant money. Alcon Laboratories lists them with the FDA as protecting Eysuvis.

Patent reported to NIH as grant-funded

Medicare paid, 2024

$13M

before rebates

Medicare, 2020–2024

$35M

$867 per patient in 2024

Medicaid paid, 2024

$4.7M

before rebates

NIH grants behind the patents

$6.2M

whole-grant totals, not the drug's cost

The public record, link by link

1 · Public money
7 NIH grants to Johns Hopkins University, Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc., $6.2M in all.
2 · Patent
9056057, 9393213, 9532955, 9737491, 9827191, 10058511, 10646436, 10688045, 10857096, 10940108, 10945948, 10993908, 11219596, 11596599, 11642317, 11872318, reported to NIH under R01CA140746, R01HD062844, R21AI079740, R21AI094519, R33AI079740, R33AI094519, R43EY021705.
3 · FDA approval
Approved Oct 26, 2020, held by Alcon Laboratories (NDA 210933).
4 · Public pays
Medicare paid $13M in 2024 for 14,882 patients; Medicaid $4.7M.

What Medicare paid for Eysuvis

Medicare Part D and Part B gross spending by year, before manufacturer rebates.

The grants

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

Grant	Research	Years	NIH paid
R01HD062844 NICHD	Pathogen trapping by genital mucus secretions Johns Hopkins University	2010–2014	$1.6M
R33AI079740 NIAID	Mucus-penetrating nanoparticles for sustained microbicide delivery Johns Hopkins University	2010–2012	$1.4M
R33AI094519 NIAID	Mucus Penetrating Particles for Rectal Microbicides Johns Hopkins University	2013–2015	$1.4M
R01CA140746 NCI	Mucus penetrating nanoparticles for early stage cervical cancer Johns Hopkins University	2009–2010	$665K
R21AI079740 NIAID	Mucus-penetrating nanoparticles for sustained microbicide delivery Johns Hopkins University	2008–2009	$450K
R21AI094519 NIAID	Mucus Penetrating Particles for Rectal Microbicides Johns Hopkins University	2011–2012	$440K
R43EY021705 NEI, small-business grant	Long-Acting Mucus-Penetrating Steroid Particles for Treatment of Eye Inflammation Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	2011	$256K

The patents

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

US 9056057
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 9393213
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 9532955
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 9737491
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 9827191
COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR OPHTHALMIC AND/OR OTHER APPLICATIONS
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10058511
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10646436
Compositions and Methods for Ophthalmic and/or Other Applications
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10688045
COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR OPHTHALMIC AND/OR OTHER APPLICATIONS
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10857096
Compositions and Methods for Ophthalmic and/or Other Applications
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10940108
Compositions and Methods for Ophthalmic and/or Other Applications
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10945948
Mucus Penetrating Drug Particles
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 10993908
Mucus Penetrating Drug Particles
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 11219596
COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR OPHTHALMIC AND/OR OTHER APPLICATIONS
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 11596599
COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR OPHTHALMIC AND/OR OTHER APPLICATIONS
Reported by Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 11642317
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033
US 11872318
NANOCRYSTALS, COMPOSITIONS, AND METHODS THAT AID PARTICLE TRANSPORT IN MUCUS
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry May 3, 2033

Alcon'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 Eysuvis are linked above, and Alcon's page shows its other drugs on this list. If Alcon 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.