Brussels, Belgium
March 26, 2009
In today's edition of
Nature scientists from the
JRC Institute for
Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) have published
results from an on-going study conducted together with the
European Techno-Economic Policy Support Network (ETEPS) with the
support of EuroGentest, an EU-funded Network of Excellence (NoE)
in the domain of genetic testing.
The study, entitled "Intellectual Property and Diagnostics",
contains a compilation of evidence on where and how a
representative sample of laboratories is exploiting DNA patents.
It analyses the impact of this behaviour on European companies
and clinical laboratories engaged in the development and
provision of genetic tests and socio-economic consequences for
the development of diagnostics and patient access to these
diagnostics.
The purpose of such prospective studies, the speciality of
JRC-IPTS, is to assess whether regulation at a European level in
a given area is required.
Conducted across Europe, the study notes that genetic testing
laboratories have generally had little experience of dealing
with patents and require more support to negotiate the changing
patent landscape around them. However, in many cases
laboratories also lack awareness, experience and support to
resolve patent-related issues, in an environment where patents
are of increasing prominence. Private and public health insurers
may thus end up having to provide more support due to increased
costs relating to patented tests.
The concept of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is generally
considered an important incentive for innovation as it
facilitate the sharing of new knowledge and its application
(invention) with the scientific community and society as a
whole. In spite of its stimulating effect on innovation, it has
been suggested that intellectual property also has the potential
to inhibit research as a result of the proliferation of DNA
patents, resulting in limited access to novel treatments and
diagnostics, for example as a result of high licensing fees. Yet
little empirical evidence exists on the actual impact that
current patenting and licensing practices may have for the
development and wider adoption of diagnostics. The study aims to
fill this void.
"The phantom menace of
gene patents"
Sibylle Gaisser, Michael M. Hopkins, Kathleen Liddell, Eleni
Zika & Dolores Ibarreta
Nature 458, 407-408 (26 March 2009) | doi:10.1038/458407a
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