U.S. academia susceptible to IP theft

Academic centers funded by U.S. taxpayers may be particularly vulnerable to intellectual property theft or illicit foreign influence, a federal watchdog reports. For example, more than half of all NIH-funded institutions haven’t publicly disclosed their conflict-of-interest policies.

Research funding coming from foreign governments could allow them to ultimately pluck trade secrets from U.S. laboratories, according to a newly released HHS report.

The concern is that financial motivations could “threaten or distort the use of NIH funds for their intended research purpose,” Erin Bliss, an assistant HHS inspector general, told STAT’s Lev Facher.