ISSUE 38: JULY–AUGUST 2005
network of research and training centres/programmes
FRONT PAGE | ARCHIVE |
Countries torn over how to regulate bioprospecting
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National attempts to regulate bioprospecting have been slow, incomplete and unsuitable for addressing the complex issue of drug research and development based on genetic resources, according to a new policy brief from UNU Institute for New Technologies (UNU-INTECH).
In Regulating Bioprospecting: Institutions for Drug Research, Access and Benefit Sharing, author Padmashree Gehl Sampath notes that many countries are torn between the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights on the one hand and conflicting political interests on the other.
"It is hardly surprising. . . that drug companies, pressured by legal uncertainties and unrealistic expectations of benefit-sharing, are exploring alternative technologies rather than using natural products for drug R&D."
The new policy brief analyses policy options and institutions to regulate the search for new drugs based on genetic resources and is based on a forthcoming book that will be one of the first to address the contractual complexities of bioprospecting for drug research.
© 2005 United Nations University