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US HHS advisory group SACGHS’ proposals to limit gene patent draws fire from industry
Article | 8 February 2010

A US government committee at the Department Health and Human Services - Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society (SACGHS) – last Friday voted to advise HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to limit the ability of holders of gene patents to keep others from using those genes for diagnostic and research purposes...

Critics say that the proposals would amount to a major change of important US patent law, would hinder industry innovation and commercial opportunities in genetics, and would lead to fewer gene-based technologies making their way to the clinic, reports GenomeWeb Daily News...



The SACGHS agreed to send Ms Sebelius a report that recommends creating a specific statutory exemption from infringement liability for genetic tests that use genes patented by another party, and another exemption for scientists who wish to use patent-protected genes for research.

Restrictions would threaten advances in public health, harm economy, says BIO


In the letter, the stakeholders stated: “We welcome efforts to improve patient access to genetic tests, and stand ready to work with you and other interested parties to do so. But we believe that the recommendations, if implemented, would unravel two sets of laws that are the foundation of life science innovation in this country - the patent system and the Bayh-Dole Act. This would do more harm to patients than good, by impairing the research, development and commercialization of the medicines and diagnostic tests of tomorrow.”

“By undermining the value of gene-based patents, these recommendations would chill future investment and innovation, and would undermine the investment-backed expectations of current patent owners and licensees,” stated BIO president and chief executive Jim Greenwood. “The United States must preserve incentives for investment and innovation, particularly given the current state of the economy. It is not the time to undertake or recommend policy changes that would undermine the foundations of American life sciences innovation,” he added.


Also at the BIO press meeting, former US Senator Birch Bayh said that the legislation he co-sponsored with former Senator Bob Dole came at a time when the federal government owned all the inventions that came from federally funded research and US innovation was stagnating and investment in R&D was not growing. He attacked the proposed rules as an "attempt to roll back the clock to implement the failed policies of the past."


(I have written the president and HHS Secretary Sebelius in support of this proposal. In reading the comment from Birch Bayh, I see no problem with rolling back the clock to implement policies that did not give away everything to Pharma Industry...)