This isn't really the issue - it's that patents arising from federally funded research that really matter, the intellectual property created by researchers who

This isn't really the issue - it's that patents arising from federally funded research that really matter, the intellectual property created by researchers who are paid by federal agencies and taxpayer funds. The fundamental problem is that the universities and researchers can exclusively license that IP to private parties (under Bayh-Dole, passed in the 1980s). A more rational approach would be to allow any private party (possibly excluding foreign corporations) to license any patent generated, even in part, by federal funding. This would mean, for example, that any pharmaceutical manufacturer could start producing mRNA vaccines and a wide variety of other artificially price-inflated drugs. Hence, the simple solution is complete repeal of Bayh-Dole laws and an executive order to universities to grant IP liceneses to any interested private party.