OECD experts view licensing as key in ensuring genetic inventions benefit public health - Conclusions of the Workshop

Patents and licenses help to make new therapeutic applications of biotechnology available to patients and researchers alike . However, improvements in current arrangements for patenting genetic tests would enable even more effective use of new technologies in health care systems, according to participants in a recent OECD workshop.

The workshop on genetic inventions, patents and licensing systems, attended by over 100 public and private sector experts from 18 OECD countries in Berlin on 24-25 January 2002, was hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. Participants reviewed empirical evidence demonstrating the impacts of patenting and licensing of genetic inventions on access to technology by researchers, companies and within healthcare systems.

Contrary to fears that growth in the number and complexity of biotechnology patents would cause the breakdown of the patent system and so prevent access to inventions by researchers and health services, participants heard, patents in biotechnology are stimulating research and the entry of new technology into markets. However, continued vigilance is necessary to ensure that this remains the case internationally.

In particular, participants heard that difficulties sometimes occur around licensing of patents related to genetic tests. Clinical laboratories often fail to conclude licensing agreements with holders of such patents, for reasons that are unclear. The conference discussed ways to improve access and market penetration without undermining the patent system while remaining within public health service budgets. Improved international harmonisation of patent and licensing practices is required, especially in Europe, and the scope and function of different countries' research exemptions - which generally seem to work reasonably well - need to be clarified. Further detailed analysis by the private and public sectors and international organisations is necessary to determine what approaches might work best.

For further information, journalists are invited to contact Dr Bénédicte Callan, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, (tel. [33] 1 45 24 14 67) or Meggan Dissly, OECD Media Relations, (tel. [33] 1 45 24 80 94).