BIO Highlights Serious Flaws in Recommendations of Draft Report on Gene Patents and Patient Access to Genetic Tests
“While BIO and our member companies strongly support the mission of the Committee and its goal of improving patient access to genetic tests, we must strongly disagree with its recommendations,” stated BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood. “If implemented, these recommendations would do far more harm than good to patients, particularly the patients of tomorrow who will rely on biotech innovation to bring the promise of personalized medicine to reality.”
In its comments, BIO took issue with many of the draft report’s recommendations, which were not supported by the Committee’s own findings and case studies. Those findings and case studies show how patenting and exclusive licensing practices can be necessary to foster the development of valuable genetics tests for patients, particularly those with rare disorders, and that they have other positive impacts – such as incentives to promote physician and patient education, broader insurance coverage, and improved compliance. Those real benefits were largely ignored by the Committee in proposing its over-reaching and restrictive recommendations.
“The patent, licensing, and tech transfer system in this country is, by any objective measure, working quite well overall. The evidence shows that decisions about what patents to seek and how best to license them are decisions that are best made by the researchers and their commercial partners, who have the greatest incentives to achieve widespread patient access to their discoveries,” concluded Greenwood. “Enacting these recommendations would risk thousands of jobs across the country by stifling university-industry partnerships and undermine the country’s global leadership in biotech innovation.”
Yesterday’s comments are available at http://bio.org/ip/domestic/SACGHS_Oral_Statement%2010-8-09.pdf. BIO’s more comprehensive comments on the draft report which were submitted earlier this year are available at http://bio.org/ip/domestic/documents/SACGHSBIOComments5-09.pdf.
Upcoming BIO Events
BIO Investor Forum
October 28-29, 2009
San Francisco, CA
Advanced Business Development Course
October 30, 2009
Vienna, Austria
BIO Europe International Partnering Conference
November 2-4, 2009
Vienna, Austria
Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy
November 8-11, 2009
Honolulu, HI
About BIO
BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.
###