Vyondys 53: patented from NIH-funded research

University of Western Australia reported a patent on this drug to NIH as an invention made with NIH grant money. Sarepta Therapeutics lists it with the FDA as protecting Vyondys 53.

Patent reported to NIH as grant-funded

Medicare paid, 2024

—

before rebates

Medicare, 2020–2024

Medicaid paid, 2024

—

before rebates

NIH grants behind the patents

$1.5M

whole-grant totals, not the drug's cost

The public record, link by link

1 · Public money
NIH grant to University of Western Australia, $1.5M in all.
2 · Patent
RE47691, reported to NIH under R01NS044146.
3 · FDA approval
Approved Dec 12, 2019, held by Sarepta Therapeutics (NDA 211970).
4 · Public pays
Not yet in the Medicare or Medicaid spending files, which run to 2024.

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
R01NS044146 NINDS	Antisense oligonucleotide suppression of non-deletion DMD causing mutations University of Western Australia	2004–2012	$1.5M

Grant

Research

Years

NIH paid

R01NS044146

NINDS

Antisense oligonucleotide suppression of non-deletion DMD causing mutations

University of Western Australia

2004–2012

$1.5M

The patents

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

US RE47691
ANTISENSE OLIGONUCLEOTIDES FOR INDUCING EXON SKIPPING AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF
Reported by University of Western Australia
FDA-listed expiry Jun 28, 2028

Sarepta Therapeutics'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 Vyondys 53 are linked above, and Sarepta Therapeutics's page shows its other drugs on this list. If Sarepta Therapeutics 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.