GENET news: Misc

05.02.2007

Chinese biotech hamstrung by production issues

s fast-developing biopharmaceutical industry is encountering a production bottleneck, challenging efforts to copy its success in other industries such as textiles and electronics. ”The production issue is quite important,” says Qihong Sun, a scientist at the Beijing-based Academy of Military Medical Sciences. ”If it is not properly handled, [China’s] progress in biotech research could be discounted.” Sun was referring specifically to delays in getting several biotech drugs made in China onto the market, long after their approval by regulators.

02.02.2007

EU considers overhaul of transparency rules

The European Commission is looking into how it can overhaul rules on public access to EU documents as citizens" requests for information increase year on year. Statistics show that the council - member states" secretariat - and commission turn down one third of the applications for information access, while the parliament refuses around 20 percent. [...] ”There is a culture of secrecy running through the European Commission, and the public and groups like Friends of the Earth must fight for every piece of paper to be made public,” said a Friends of the Earth campaigner last year after the ombudsman agreed that the commission had been wrong in refusing to release documents on scientific concerns about the safety of genetically modified foods.

01.02.2007

Island Dreams - Puerto Rico has designs on becoming the next hub for both biotech manufacturing and research

map of municipalities of Puerto Rico supporting life science business
map of municipalities of Puerto Rico supporting life science businessScanning down the list of companies packed onto the 100-mile-long island of Puerto Rico is like reading a who"s who of the drug industry; in the past few decades, nearly every U.S. firm has shipped at least part of its manufacturing to the commonwealth, largely to enjoy hefty tax breaks and an ample, affordable workforce. Firms providing support services have cropped up around the drug facilities, establishing the infrastructure for what is now widely recognized as a manufacturing powerhouse. [...] Yet all that investment in Puerto Rico isn"t happening in a vacuum. The commonwealth enjoyed decades of unmitigated success in attracting traditional drug companies, but competition for biopharmaceutical projects has quickly taken hold. Ireland and Singapore have become aggressive suitors for biotech business, and it is becoming apparent that Puerto Rico will need to step up its game to continue to be a major player. Puerto Rico "now realizes that Singapore wants what they have" and is going after it full force, says Paul Romness, an economic development consultant at Odell Simms & Associates.

01.02.2007

Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta seeks to reverse expropriation of Brazilian research farm

The Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta is trying to prevent the expropriation of a farm used for testing transgenic seeds in Brazil. The state government of Parana confiscated the 143-hectare property near the famous Iguaçu waterfalls last November after the governor decided the property would become an educational centre for environment-friendly agriculture.

29.01.2007

Germany needs smarter investment to play catch up with US

Germany’s 2006 investment in biotech was expected to be less than 150 million euros. And a May report from the European Association for Bio-industries in Brussels says many of Europe"s 2,000 biotech companies need much more money if they’re going to be able to grow. But Strüven said it’s better for Germany to cut its losses in a field where it isn’t booming, and to move on. Just like it did, when it stopped trying to compete with Asia in digital and consumer electronics.

18.01.2007

Puerto Rico governor lures U.S. biotechs

Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila traveled to California on Wednesday to encourage biotechnology research companies to open branches in Puerto Rico to help the U.S. territory diversify its economy. Acevedo Vila led a group of Puerto Rican economists and university officials on a tour of the biotechnology hub around San Francisco, the governor's office said in a statement. He was scheduled to meet with members of the nonprofit trade association, BayBio, and biotech drug maker Genentech Inc.

17.01.2007

Commercialization of start-up agricultural biotechnologies pushed in the Philippines

The Philippines has sufficient laws such as the Intellectual Property (IP) Code and the Magna Carta for Science and Technology Workers (MCST) to back up commercialization of startup technologies, but government has to codify these to encourage extensive patenting and licensing for these technologies. Congress, in fact, may no longer need to come up with a law similar to the US’s Bayh Dole Act as suggested by some sectors since these existing laws already warrant patenting-licensing which will give commercial incentives to inventors including those in the agricultural biotechnology industries.

11.01.2007

U.S. Supreme Court favors companies that rely on others' patents

The Supreme Court has opened the door to a category of patent lawsuits that a lower court had barred, issuing a decision that will probably shift power in the courtroom from bigger patent-owning companies to smaller start-up companies that rely on obtaining licenses for patented technology. The court's 8-1 decision Tuesday held that the holder of a patent license can sue to challenge the patent's validity without first refusing to pay royalties and putting itself in breach of the license agreement.

11.01.2007

Barbados focuses on biosafety

Barbados is actively stepping up its focus on biosafety. All major stakeholders are expected to undergo an awareness and sensitisation programme next week as the first step towards the creation of an an operational framework for the management of biosafety issues relating to genetically modified organisms.

09.01.2007

Canada and India to collaborate on agriculture and biotechnology information exchange

Canada's New Government has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with India to extend scientific collaboration in exchanging technology and expertise and in conducting research. The agreement will provide opportunities for researchers and institutions to exchange information and expertise in agriculture, agri-food and rural development. Of particular interest to both countries are agricultural biotechnology, bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers, functional and nutraceutical foods and environmental technologies.

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