Pylarify: patented from NIH-funded research

Johns Hopkins University reported 5 patents on this drug to NIH as inventions made with NIH grant money. Progenics Pharmaceuticals lists them with the FDA as protecting Pylarify.

Patent reported to NIH as grant-funded

Medicare paid, 2024

—

before rebates

Medicare, 2020–2024

Medicaid paid, 2024

$8.0M

before rebates

NIH grants behind the patents

$15M

whole-grant totals, not the drug's cost

The public record, link by link

1 · Public money
6 NIH grants to Ut Southwestern Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, $15M in all.
2 · Patent
8778305, 9861713, 10947197, 11851407, 12070513, reported to NIH under R01CA134675, R21CA111982, R21CA114111, R24CA092871, U01CA183031, U24CA092871.
3 · FDA approval
Approved May 26, 2021, held by Progenics Pharmaceuticals (NDA 214793).
4 · Public pays
Medicaid paid $8.0M 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.

Grant	Research	Years	NIH paid
R01CA134675 NCI	Enhanced imaging and treatment of aggressive subtypes of prostate cancer Ut Southwestern Medical Center	2009–2025	$6.2M
R24CA092871 NCI	Interdisciplinary Small Animal Imaging for Oncology Johns Hopkins University	2001–2006	$5.1M
U24CA092871 NCI	Small Animal Imaging Resource (SAIR) Johns Hopkins University	2007–2011	$2.3M
U01CA183031 NCI	PSMA Directed Imaging of Prostate Cancer Focus on Androgen Receptor Dynamics Johns Hopkins University	2015–2017	$1.2M
R21CA114111 NCI	PSMA-based SPECT Tracers for Prostate Cancer Imaging Johns Hopkins University	2006–2007	$337K
R21CA111982 NCI	PSMA-based PET Ligands for Prostate Cancer Imaging Johns Hopkins University	2006–2007	$337K

The patents

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

US 8778305
PSMA-binding Agents and uses thereof
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry Sep 21, 2030
US 9861713
PSMA-binding Agents and uses thereof
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry Jul 31, 2029
US 10947197
An improved synthesis of the radiolabeled PSMA inhibitor, [18F] DCFPyL
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry Jun 9, 2037
US 11851407
SYNTHESIS OF THE RADIOLABELED PROSTATE-SPECIFIC MEMBRANE ANTIGEN (PSMA) INHIBITOR [18F]DCFPYL
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry Jun 9, 2037
US 12070513
PSMA-BINDING AGENTS AND USES THEREOF
Reported by Johns Hopkins University
FDA-listed expiry Jul 31, 2029

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