[Pharm-policy] The ethics of patenting DNA and proteins

[James Love]

Subject: [e-drug] The ethics of patenting DNA and proteins
     Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 02:03:17 -0400 (EDT)
    From: Yvonne Melia <ymelia@nuffieldfoundation.org>
 Reply-To:  e-drug@usa.healthnet.org
      To: e-drug@usa.healthnet.org

E-drug: The ethics of patenting DNA and proteins
---------------------------------------------
List Members may be interested to know that the Nuffield Council on
Bioethics today announced a series of Roundtable meetings to examine
ethical and legal issues associated with the patenting of DNA and proteins
and the implications of such for healthcare.  The Roundtable meetings will
produce a Discussion Paper towards the end of 2000 which will aim to help
the Courts, patent offices and policy-makers to develop public policy and
professional guidance and to promote public debate.

For immediate release
PRESS RELEASE
THE ETHICS OF PATENTING DNA AND PROTEINS

Many companies and universities throughout the world are seeking to file
patents on gene sequences and proteins.  Questions remain, however, 
over the moral implications of protecting rights to property in this 
kind of way. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is holding a series of 
Roundtable meetings to
consider the ethical and legal issues raised by this form of patenting and the
implications for healthcare.  Research into DNA and proteins offers 
the possibility of many different kinds of developments in health 
care. New gene-based tests and drugs for a wide range of common 
diseases will be developed on the basis of knowledge about the human 
genome and the genomes of bacteria and viruses. What is the proper 
balance between public and private sectors in these developments? 
Will broad patents covering important disease genes such as the 
breast cancer genes restrict the development of affordable tests? 
What is the role of patent offices? Are they custodians of public 
good or servants of enterprise? Does the patent system actually 
encourage innovation in biomedical research?

These questions will be considered by the members of the Roundtable 
group. They have backgrounds in moral philosophy, clinical genetics, 
genomics, patent law, pharmaceuticals and anthropology.  The 
Roundtable meetings will produce a Discussion Paper towards the end 
of 2000 which will aim to help the Courts, patent offices and 
policy-makers to develop public policy and professional guidance and 
to promote public debate.

NOTE TO EDITORS

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is an independent body which examines the
ethical issues raised by developments in medicine and biology. Established in
1991, it is funded by The Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research 
Council and the Wellcome Trust.

Membership of the Roundtable
Professor Martin Bobrow, Deputy Chairman of the Council and Head of 
Department of Medical Genetics, University of Cambridge
Professor Tom Baldwin, Member of the Council and Head of Department 
of Philosophy, University of York
Professor Brian Heap, Member of the Council and Master, St Edmundís 
College, University of Cambridge
Professor Marilyn Strathern, Member of the Council and Mistress of 
Girton College, Cambridge and
William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
Hon Mr Justice Jacob, Judge of the High Court, Chancery Division
Professor Michael Stratton, Head of Cancer Genome Project, The Sanger 
Centre, Cambridge
Dr Alan Williamson, Consultant, Abingworth Management Ltd and 
biotechnology and genomics companies
Professor Joseph Strauss, Head of Patent Department, Max Planck 
Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and 
Competition Law, Germany and Professor of Law, University of Munich 
and University of Ljubljana
Professor John Barton
George E. Osborne,  Professor of Law, Stanford Law School, USA

Secretariat
Dr Sandy Thomas (Director)
Susan Bull (Deputy Director)
Yvonne Melia (Research Assistant)
Julia Fox (PA to the Secretariat)

The Council has issued the following reports and discussion papers:
Reports
Genetic Screening: Ethical issues (1993)
Human Tissue: Ethical and legal issues (1995)
Animal-to-Human Transplants: The ethics of xenotransplantation (1996)
Mental Disorders and Genetics: The ethical context (1998)
Genetically Modified Crops: The ethical and social issues (1999)

Discussion papers
The ethics of clinical research in developing countries (1999)
Stem cell therapy: the ethical issues (2000)

For further information please contact:
Yvonne Melia, Nuffield Council on Bioethics,
28 Bedford Square,
London WC1B 3JS
Tel: 020 7681 9625, Fax: 020 7637 1712,
Email: ymelia@nuffieldfoundation.org
Website: http://www.nuffield.org/bioethics
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James Love  mailto:love@cptech.org http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
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