Economics and Genetic Technology Transfer
Technology transfer involves the discloser and exchange of information about a discovery or an invention. This discloser could be in the form of presentation at professional or technical conferences, publication in professional magazines or books, deposition of data in accessible databases, and through patenting. Other forms of technology transfer that involves economic and industrial interests include consulting, exchange programs, training and workshops, and especially licensing. The acknowledgement of the intellectual property of the holder of proprietary information and the respect of the economic interests of the inventor of discoveries that could be developed commercially is at the center of all technology transfer mechanisms.
Collegial exchange information, techniques and programs during conferences, seminars and through publications is the most popular way of technology transfer. The published information is usually intended for the scientific community but is also accessible to the general public. Researchers usually take care to avoid the premature disclosure of data that may be subject to patent application and to give full credit to all collaborators who contributed to the discoveries that are made public. Organization of workshops and special training is another form of technology transfer. Collaboration between research laboratories or between a laboratory and an industrial party could be established such that consulting personal could for example provide services that amount to transfer of technology and may lead to new inventions. These collaborations are usually regulated by special contracts that outline the contributions and benefits of each party and may or may not involve joint financial funding of a project. Collaborations between academic laboratories are usually managed by less formal rules but the guidelines are very clear about the respect of intellectual property and guidelines are very rigorous.
Patenting is a special form of technology transfer where new discoveries and inventions are made public through a special process that allows the protection of an invention from commercial competition. An inventor who makes a discovery that is shown to be new, not obvious and with useful application can be awarded a patent. The agency responsible for granting patents in the US is the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The inventor is asked to provide sufficient details about the invention so that all claims about novelty and usefulness can be verified. The patent files are later made public and the inventor is granted a time-limited monopoly to commercially exploit the invention. Being awarded a patent, the inventor can either proceed to the production and commercialization of a product or service, or develop licensing agreements with industries, government agencies and academia for the development and use of the invention. The patent system has been very good in helping to develop discoveries into therapeutic and diagnostic tools and useful products in industry. This system has helped to stimulate a drive for invention and encouraged risk-taking and investments in research and development.
In genetic research, the importance of the economic aspects in technology transfer issues could easily be appreciated by the impact they had on debates and discussions during the progress of the human genome project. The first disagreements inside the Human Genome Project (HGP), which led to the resignation of James Watson, the first director of the National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR), were about the patenting of partial human genes called ESTs. The issue of patenting these gene pieces also led to the resignation of Craig Venter, the researcher who developed methods to find these ESTs, from NIH. The arguments of those who supported a private sector led exploitation of the sequence information derived from the genome project, essentially were that patent law at present recognizes the patentability of DNA sequences. The sequence information will be increasingly important in the future drug discovery process, diagnostics and therapy, as well as the production of novel industrial products. Furthermore in the conventional drug discovery process, pharmacologically active molecules that are based on naturally occurring substances could be patented. This is because these active molecules are being identified, purified and shown to be effective in curing disease. The sequencing of DNA is by analogy considered a purification step and would therefore warrant the reward of a patent even though the DNA is a natural part of the body. But as Martin Bobrow and Sandy Thomas argued in the issue of the scientific journal Nature that published the draft human genome map and sequence, the value of the DNA molecule "resides in its information content" rather than in the substance. In other words, when it comes to DNA it is the sequence information that has natural value not the object. It should therefore be argued that this "naturally occurring" information should not be patented.
The expansion of genetic information data has prompted interest in the commercial exploitation of these data by building databases and granting access only to subscribers who are willing to pay licensing fees. This business model, which is adopted by, among others, Celera Genomics, the private company that competed with the HGP on completing the sequence of the human genome, is more like the business model of news agencies where the service provider should always stay one step ahead of competition in order to provide valuable information and retain subscribers. This approach is to be distinguished from conventional business models adopted by most biopharmaceutical companies, which chose the drug-discovery approach to generate future benefits from genetic research. These companies rely heavily on the acquisition and protection of intellectual property rights. Identifying drug targets and obtaining patents are important steps for these companies to succeed. The expansion in genetic research has considerably facilitated the step of identifying drug targets. It is estimated that the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries will be dealing with at least 10 000 drug targets in the near future. This is to be compared with several hundreds targets that kept these industries busy for most of the twentieth century.
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