Profile: Michael Sporn: A legacy of greater knowledge : Nature : Nature Research

"Sporn's disinclination to patent his discoveries stems in part from the culture of the NIH in the 1980s. Nowadays, agency scientists file hundreds of patents every year, which “have translated into drugs and biologics with high public health impact,” says Karen Maurey, director of the Technology Transfer Center at the NIH's National Cancer Institute. They also bring back more than US$100 million annually in royalties."