Richard Gold

AMP v. Myriad: a surgical strike on Blockbuster business models.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Myriad Genetics case will promote translation of genetics-based diagnostics while preserving patent protection for other biomedical products.

Standards for biobank access and intellectual property

The Human Genome Project (HGP) and follow-on collaborative studies have provided scientists with a vast amount of information about the human genome. Despite this, and despite an increasing focus on genomewide analysis, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of how the human organism functions as a whole and how life choices and environmental factors interact with our pre-programmed genetic constituents. These are important questions, for which answers are vital if we want to create a healthier world for future generations. Biobanks are widely recognized as vital research tools in this quest. They contribute by providing collections of human tissue linked with genetic information and other health information that permit researchers to pinpoint disease targets and perfect drug development. There is a wide diversity in types and forms of biobank, ranging from small-scale disease-specific collections through to more recently established large-scale population resources.

The BRCA patent controversies: An international review of patent disputes

This unique edited collection brings together cross-disciplinary social science research to present a broad global comparative understanding of the implications of BRCA gene research and medical practices.

A model of regulatory burden in technology diffusion: The case of plant-derived vaccines

Plant-derived vaccines may soon displace conventional vaccines. Assuming there are no major technological barriers undermining the feasibility of this innovative technology, it is worthwhile to generate quantitative models of regulatory burden of producing and diffusing plant-derived vaccines in industrialized and developing countries. A dynamic simulation model of technology diffusion, and the data to populate it, has been generated for studying regulatory barriers in the diffusion of plant derived vaccines. The role of regulatory burden is evaluated for a variety of scenarios in which plant-derived vaccines are produced and diffused. This model relates the innovative and conventional vaccine technologies and the effects of the impact of the uptake of the innovative technology on mortality and morbidity. This case study demonstrates how dynamic simulation models can be used to assess the long-term potential impact of novel technologies in terms of a variety of socio-economic indicators.

Wicked Issues for Canada at the Intersection of Intellectual Property and Public Health: Mechanisms for Policy Coherence

This article focuses on the intersection of health and one of the main drivers of the global economy, intellectual property (―IP‖). It is widely recognized that IP is an inter-sectoral issue with linkages to many other important public policy areas, such as health, agriculture, the environment, and education. In inter-sectoral issues such as IP, there is discussion on the need for governments around the world to achieve policy coherence not only across their various departments, but also between their domestic and international positions in important fora.