II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4539 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and other Federal 

officials to compile into a searchable database information relating to 

Federal support for biomedical research and development related to 

COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and 

other Federal officials to compile into a searchable database information relating to Federal support for biomedical research and development related to COVID– 

19, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayer Research 

5 and Coronavirus Knowledge Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DATABASE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

3 Human Services, the Director of the National Institutes 

4 of Health, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and 

5 Response, the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Re6 search and Development Authority, the Secretary of De7 fense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Director of 

8 the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 

9 and such other Federal officials as the Secretary of Health 

10 and Human Services determines to be appropriate, acting 

11 in coordination, shall— 

12 (1) compile into a searchable database informa13 tion relating to Federal support (before or after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act) for biomedical re15 search and development related to COVID–19 (in16 cluding biomedical research and development relat17 ing to a product or therapy that was later modified 

18 or repurposed to be used for COVID–19); and 

19 (2) make such database available on the public 

20 website of the Department of Health and Human 

21 Services. 

22 (b) COVERED INFORMATION.—The information relat23 ing to Federal support referred to in subsection (a)(1) in24 cludes all contracts, funding agreements, licensing ar25 rangements, other transactions, and other arrangements 

26 entered into by the Federal Government and tax benefits 


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1 provided with respect to research and development, and 

2 manufacturing, of a drug (including biological products), 

3 cell or gene therapy, or medical device intended to be man4 ufactured, used, designed, developed, modified, 

5 repurposed, licensed, or procured to diagnose, mitigate, 

6 prevent, treat, or cure COVID–19, including the following: 

7 (1) Licensing agreements pursuant to section 

8 207 of title 35, United States Code. 

9 (2) Cooperative research and development 

10 agreements and licensing agreements pursuant to 

11 section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology In12 novation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a). 

13 (3) Funding agreements, as defined in section 

14 201 of title 35, United States Code. 

15 (4) Other transactions entered into pursuant to 

16 the following: 

17 (A) Section 319L of the Public Health 

18 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–7e). 

19 (B) Section 105 of the National Institutes 

20 of Health Reform Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 

21 284n). 

22 (C) Section 480 of the Public Health Serv23 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 287a). 

24 (D) Section 421 of the Public Health Serv25 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 285b–3). 


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1 (E) Section 2371 of title 10, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (5) Tax credits and deductions associated 

4 with— 

5 (A) qualified clinical testing expenses, as 

6 defined in section 45C of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986; 

8 (B) qualified research expenses, as defined 

9 in section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986; and 

11 (C) charitable contributions, as defined in 

12 section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

13 1986, to patient assistance programs. 

14 (c) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

15 other provision of law, the Federal officials referred to in 

16 subsection (a) shall include in the database under sub17 section (a), with regard to each contract, funding agree18 ment, licensing arrangement, other transaction, other ar19 rangement, or tax benefit described in subsection (b), at 

20 least the following information: 

21 (1) The agency, program, institute, or other 

22 Federal Government entity providing the Federal 

23 support. 

24 (2) The amount and period of Federal financial 

25 support with an itemized breakdown. 


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1 (3) Other Federal nonfinancial support, includ2 ing the use of Federal personnel, Federal facilities, 

3 and Federal equipment. 

4 (4) The grant number, if applicable. 

5 (5) Associated clinical trial data, upon trial 

6 completion. 

7 (6) Associated patents and patent applications, 

8 specifying— 

9 (A) any Federal ownership in such patents 

10 and patent applications; 

11 (B) the expiration date of such patents 

12 and filing dates of such patent applications; and 

13 (C) the numbers of such patents and pat14 ent applications. 

15 (7) Associated periods of marketing exclusivity 

16 under Federal law and the durations of such peri17 ods. 

18 (8) The corporation, nonprofit organization, 

19 academic institution, person, or other entity receiv20 ing the Federal support. 

21 (9) Any products (including repurposed prod22 ucts) approved, authorized, or cleared for marketing, 

23 or for which marketing approval, authorization, or 

24 clearance is being sought, the development of which 

25 was aided by Federal support, including— 


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1 (A) the names of such products; 

2 (B) the prices of such products; and 

3 (C) the current and anticipated manufac4 turing capacity to produce such products. 

5 (10) The full terms of the contract, funding 

6 agreement, licensing arrangement, other transaction, 

7 or other arrangement described in subsection (b). 

8 (d) FORMAT OF INFORMATION.—The database under 

9 subsection (a) shall be— 

10 (1) searchable and filterable according to the 

11 categories of information described in subsection (c); 

12 and 

13 (2) presented in a user-friendly format. 

14 (e) TIMING.—The database under subsection (a) 

15 shall be— 

16 (1) made publicly available not later than 1 

17 month of the date of enactment of this Act; and 

18 (2) updated not less than every 30 days. 

19 (f) DISCLOSURE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of law, to the extent necessary for an offi22 cial referred to in subsection (a) to carry out this 

23 section, such official may require entities receiving 

24 Federal support referred to in subsection (a)(1) to 

25 disclose to the official any information relating to 


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1 such Federal support and required to be included in 

2 the database under subsection (a). 

3 (2) PENALTY FOR NONDISCLOSURE.—If an en4 tity that is required to disclose information pursuant 

5 to paragraph (1) fails to disclose such information 

6 within a reasonable period of time or within 2 weeks 

7 of the official requesting such information, whichever 

8 is sooner, then such entity and all executive officers 

9 employed by such entity shall no longer be eligible 

10 for the receipt of Federal support in the form of a 

11 contract, funding agreement, licensing arrangement, 

12 other transaction, or other arrangement. 

Æ 


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