Cambodia's Imminent Graduation from Least Developed Country Status: What Will be the Impact of the TRIPS Agreement on Access to HIV and Hepatitis C Medicines in Cambodia?

Cambodia has experienced exponential economic growth in recent years and is expected to graduate from least developed country (LDC) status within the next decade. Membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will require Cambodia to grant product and process patents for pharmaceuticals upon LDC graduation. This study aims to measure the impact of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on the price of HIV and hepatitis C medicine in Cambodia once it graduates from LDC status and is obliged to make patents available for pharmaceutical products and processes. Using scenarios based on likely outcomes of accession to the TRIPS Agreement, it measures the impact on the price of the HIV treatment program and compares that impact with the hepatitis C treatment program. Graduation from LDC status would be expected to result in a modest increase in the cost of the antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program and very large increases in the cost of the direct acting antivirals (DAA) treatment program. If annual treatment budgets remain constant, patent protection could see 1,515 fewer people living with HIV able to access ARV treatment and 2,577 fewer people able to access DAA treatment (a drop in treatment coverage of 93%).

Innovative Solutions for Patients Who Undergo Craniectomy: Protocol for a Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is a widely used procedure to alleviate high intracranial pressure. Multidisciplinary teams have designed and implemented external medical prototypes to improve patient life quality and avoid complications following DC in patients awaiting cranioplasty (CP), including 3D printing and plaster prototypes when available.

OBJECTIVE

This scoping review aims to understand the extent and type of evidence about innovative external prototypes for patients who undergo DC while awaiting CP.

METHODS

This scoping review will use the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. This scoping review will include noninvasive medical devices for adult patients who undergo DC while waiting for CP. The search strategy will be implemented in MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scielo, Scopus, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Index Medicus. Patent documents were also allocated in Espacenet, Google Patents, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) database.

RESULTS

This scoping review is not subject to ethical approval as there will be no involvement of patients. The dissemination plan includes publishing the review findings in a peer-reviewed journal and presenting results at conferences that engage the most pertinent stakeholders in innovation and neurosurgery.

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review will serve as a baseline to provide evidence for multidisciplinary teams currently designing these noninvasive innovations to reduce the risk of associated complications after DC, hoping that more cost-effective models can be implemented, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/50647.

Intellectual property and funding: fueling Chinese synbio

As China emerges as a synthetic biology (synbio) global leader, it faces distinct science-society challenges. Our series offers a snapshot of China's synbio state, emphasizing the intersection and its policy implications. The debut piece elucidates the intellectual property rights (IPR)-funding interplay in China's expanding synbio territory, underlining its key role in driving innovation and commercialization.

Driver-Activated VIDeoscopic Surgery: An Innovation Journey from Idea to Industry-Ready

Introduction: Innovation is not a straightforward path. While surgeons are intimately familiar with clinical problems and often devise clever solutions to address them, the journey from idea to a marketable product is opaque. We describe our experience developing a novel video navigation system to help streamline collaboration and enhance surgeon control of their video image in minimally invasive surgery. Materials and Methods: Our idea began with recognizing the primary clinical challenge: "one bad image for all" in laparoscopic surgery, when the least experienced member of the surgical team is often expected to hold the camera. Results: Through multiple iterations and pivots, including hardware-based solutions like head-mounted displays and individualized monitors, we arrived at a hardware-agnostic software algorithm to process laparoscopic video for real-time image navigation. As we explain why, how, and when to pivot, we provide brief overviews of protecting intellectual property and financing innovation. Finally, collaboration with professional societies, such as the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group, provides fertile testing grounds for new ideas. Conclusion: Our experience may help future surgeon-innovators go from their ideas to industry-ready.

Challenges and Opportunities for Commercializing Technologies in the Pulmonary Arena: An Official American Thoracic Society Report

"Translational medicine" has been a buzzword for over two decades. The concept was intended to be lofty, to reflect a new "bench-to-bedside" approach to basic and clinical research that would bridge fields, close gaps, accelerate innovation, and shorten the time and effort it takes to bring novel technologies from basic discovery to clinical application. Has this approach been successful and lived up to its promise? Despite incredible scientific advances and innovations developed within academia, successful clinical translation into real-world solutions has been difficult. This has been particularly challenging within the pulmonary field, because there have been fewer U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs and higher failure rates for pulmonary therapies than with other common disease areas. The American Thoracic Society convened a working group with the goal of identifying major challenges related to the commercialization of technologies within the pulmonary space and opportunities to enhance this process. A survey was developed and administered to 164 participants within the pulmonary arena. This report provides a summary of these survey results. Importantly, this report identifies a number of poorly recognized challenges that exist in pulmonary academic settings, which likely contribute to diminished efficiency of commercialization efforts, ultimately hindering the rate of successful clinical translation. Because many innovations are initially developed in academic settings, this is a global public health issue that impacts the entire American Thoracic Society community. This report also summarizes key resources and opportunities and provides recommendations to enhance successful commercialization of pulmonary technologies.

Technology Prospection of Ora-pro-Nóbis (Pereskia aculeata Mill.): A Non-conventional Food Plant

BACKGROUND

The ora-pro-nóbis (Pereskia aculeata Mill.) is a plant from Brazilian biodiversity used for food and medicinal purposes. It has ample technological potential, however, it is still underutilized, being classified as a Non-Conventional Food Plant (PANC). Prospective studies in intellectual property banks make it possible to expand perspectives for scientific research, enhancing the generation of new products.

OBJECTIVE

Evaluate the patents of products containing Pereskia aculeata Mill. for the areas of food and health in intellectual property databases.

METHODS

The study was conducted through structured prospective investigation (collection, processing and analysis) in 4 patent databases: National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) - Brazil, United States Patent and Trademark Office, World Trade Organization Intellectual Property (WIPO) and Espacenet.

RESULTS

The evaluation showed a reduced number of registered patents. In general, 8 patent applications were examined, of which 7 are directly associated with the species (and its derivatives) and 1 is related to a device specially designed for harvesting leaves/fruits and removing thorns. The focus of the patents was the use of the species in the food, pharmaceutical and biotechnological areas, with emphasis on the use of the leaves in the extraction of mucilage and proteins.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that Pereskia aculeata Mill. is a technologically promising plant, because of its nutritional and medicinal composition, and it is important to encourage innovation and the development of new products with the species.

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Flexibilities and Public Health: Implementation of Compulsory Licensing Provisions into National Patent Legislation

Policy Points Given the challenges associated with negotiating the COVID-19 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Waiver, there are questions as to whether the World Trade Organization is able to effectively address pandemics and global crises under the current architecture. Although the framework set out by the TRIPS Agreement does not view intellectual property (IP) rights as a means to foster public health and development, IP rights should nonetheless be interpreted through a public health lens. Countries should implement compulsory licensing provisions into their patent legislation, which increase access to medicines and allow governments (especially in developing and least-developed countries) to better protect public health.

CONTEXT

The protection of intellectual property (IP) rights, given international legal effect through the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of IP Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, has long been a contentious issue. In recent years, the long-standing debate on IP rights as a barrier to the access of affordable medicines has been heightened by the global vaccine inequity evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The TRIPS Agreement contains a number of flexibilities that WTO members can exploit in order to accommodate their policy needs. Among these is the mechanism of compulsory licensing, whereby patent licenses may be granted without consent of the patent holder in certain circumstances. TRIPS Article 31bis created a special mechanism for compulsory licenses specifically for the export of pharmaceutical products to countries with insufficient manufacturing capacity.

METHODS

We analyzed domestic patent legislation for 195 countries (193 UN members and two observers) and three customs territories. We analyzed patent legislation for provisions on compulsory licenses, including those defined in Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement.

FINDINGS

We identified 11 countries with no patent legislation. Of the 187 countries with domestic or regional patent laws, 176 (94.1%) had provisions on compulsory licensing and 72 (38.5%) had provisions implementing TRIPS Article 31bis.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study have highlighted the gap in the implementation of TRIPS flexibilities in countries' national patent legislation, especially in least-developed countries. Although it will not fully solve patent barriers to the access of medicines, implementation of compulsory licensing (and specifically those for the import and export of pharmaceutical products) will provide governments with another tool to safeguard their population's public health. Further discussions are needed to determine whether the WTO can provide effective responses to future pandemics or global crises.

Is Intellectual Property the COVID-19 Bad Guy? Lessons We Could Learn from the Pandemic

At the time the COVID-19 pandemic was declared there was no vaccine and other medical products were insufficient to meet demands. At the time intellectual property was considered a limitation to an effective pandemic response and the World Trade Organization considered a waiver of intellectual property addressed by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic and TRIPS waiver is that given enough time sufficient medical products will be delivered, albeit there remain some complicated delivery challenges and vaccine hesitancy issues. This column addresses the moment before that medical product saturation and the inherent limitation imposed by industry policies. The column concludes that the private sectors' motivating factors need to be integrated into the design of global public health pandemic responses from the start.

Systematic review and meta-analysis on patented and non-patented vitrification processes to ovarian tissue reported between 2000 and 2021

Due to the great interest in ovarian cryopreservation and, consequently conservation and restoration of female fertility in the last decades, different vitrification procedures (vitrification devices or solutions) have been developed, patented, and used both for academic research purposes and for clinical use. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of data obtained from the application of different patented and non-patented vitrification devices and solutions in different countries. For this purpose, relevant observational studies published between the years 2000 to 2021 were selected to verify the efficiency of ovarian vitrification processes on parameters such as morphology, viability, and apoptosis in preantral ovarian follicles after transplantation or in vitro culture. Our research revealed that, although several countries were considered in the study, the United States and Japan were the countries that registered the most processes, and 22 and 16 vitrification devices and solutions out of a total of 51, respectively were patented. Sixty-two non-patented processes were also considered in the study in all countries. We also observed that transplantation and in vitro ovarian culture were the techniques predominantly used to evaluate the efficiency of the devices and vitrification solutions, respectively. In conclusion, this review showed that patented or non-patented protocols available in the literature are able to successfully preserve preantral follicles present in ovarian tissue. Despite the satisfactory results reported so far, adjustments in ovarian vitrification protocols in order to minimize cryoinjuries to the follicles remain one of the goals of cryopreservation and preservation of the female reproductive function. We found that vitrification alters the morphology and viability, and offers risks leading in some cases to follicular apoptosis. However, adjustments to current protocols to develop an optimal procedure can minimize damage by not compromising follicular development after vitrification/warming.

Public-private partnerships in fostering outer space innovations

As public and private institutions recognize the role of space exploration as a catalyst for economic growth, various areas of innovation are expected to emerge as drivers of the space economy. These include space transportation, in-space manufacturing, bioproduction, in-space agriculture, nuclear launch, and propulsion systems, as well as satellite services and their maintenance. However, the current nature of space as an open-access resource and global commons presents a systemic risk for exuberant competition for space goods and services, which may result in a "tragedy of the commons" dilemma. In the race among countries to capture the value of space exploration, NASA, American research universities, and private companies can avoid any coordination failures by collaborating in a public-private research and development partnership (PPRDP) structure. We present such a structure founded upon the principles of polycentric autonomous governance, which incorporate a decentralized autonomous organization framework and specialized research clusters. By advancing an alignment of incentives among the specified participatory members, PPRDPs can play a pivotal role in stimulating open-source research by creating positive knowledge spillover effects and agglomeration externalities as well as embracing the nonlinear decomposition paradigm that may blur the distinction between basic and applied research.

Fortifying Health Care Intellectual Property Transactions With Blockchain

BACKGROUND

Intellectual property (IP) is a substantial competitive advantage in the health care industry. However, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for open innovation and collaboration for the greater good. Despite this, the industry faces challenges with innovation owing to organizational and departmental barriers. A secure platform is necessary to facilitate IP sharing without compromising the rights of IP owners.

OBJECTIVE

This study proposes a blockchain-based framework to secure IP transactions in health care and bring social impact.

METHODS

This study reviews existing researches, publications, practical cases, firm and organization websites, and conferences related to blockchain technology, blockchain in health care, blockchain in IP management, IP pledge research, and practice of IP management blockchain. The platform architecture has 7 components: pledgers, advanced research technology (ART), IP pledge platforms, IP databases, health care research, seeking ART, and transaction condition setting. These components work together seamlessly to support the sharing and pledging of ART and knowledge, while ensuring the platform's transparency, security, and trust.

RESULTS

The open IP pledge framework can promote technology dissemination and use, reduce research and development costs, foster collaboration, and serve the public interest. Medical organizations' leadership and support and active participation from stakeholders are necessary for success. By leveraging blockchain technology, the platform ensures tamper-proof and transparent transactions and protects the rights of IP owners. In addition, the platform offers incentive mechanisms through pledge tokens that encourage stakeholders to share their ART and contribute to the platform.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the proposed framework can facilitate technological innovation, tackle various challenges, and secure IP transactions. It provides a secure platform for stakeholders to share their IP without compromising their rights, promoting collaboration and progress in the health care industry. The implementation of the framework has the potential to revolutionize the industry's approach to innovation, allowing a more open and collaborative environment driven by the greater good.

How Did We Get Here: The Best Vaccines Ever Facing the Highest Public Hesitancy?

mRNA vaccine technology is the most interesting final product of decades of research. This new platform for public health is simple to transfer to low-income countries and can be used against diverse agents, including cancer. It is environmentally clean, relatively low-cost, and does not use animals for its production. Most importantly, mRNA vaccines have been highly efficacious in avoiding serious disease and death from COVID-19. Yet, at the highest point of the pandemic, many voices, including some from prominent positions, opposed their use. Similarly, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, which are highly effective, very safe, and probably confer long life protection against its HPV types, faced strong parents' hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy has been the subject of extensive research, focusing primarily on factors associated with the public, the political environment, and messaging strategies. However, the issue of unfair worldwide access to the COVID-19 vaccines has recently sparked significant debate about the vaccine industry's role. Recent data demonstrated that the system's perceived unfairness with the masses is behind the growing populist anti-vaccine movements worldwide. The association between populism and antivaccine attitudes has been reported at country and individual levels. The anti-science attitudes behind vaccine hesitancy emerge when the scientist is not found credible due to the suspicion that they had monetary investments in pharmaceutical companies. Here, I argue that the obscurity of the vaccine market, but also its unfairness, are important factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy. The purpose of this commentary is to stimulate a review of current market regulations and to improve its transparency and fairness, particularly in the context of public health emergencies. By doing so, a new pandemic would find us better prepared. The general population and much of the healthcare community often ignore the years of dedicated work and substantial public funding that enabled the discovery and design of vaccines. Conversely, pharmaceutical companies often over-emphasize their investments in research and development. A decade ago, Marcia Angell provided a detailed breakdown of pharmaceutical expenses, revealing that marketing and administration costs were 2.5 times higher than research and development expenses; recently, Olivier Wouters confirmed the high expenditures of the pharmaceutical industry in lobbying and political campaign contributions. In this commentary, I will present the cases of HPV and COVID-19 vaccines as examples of when vaccines, instead of being public health goods, became market goods, creating large inequities and health costs. This failure is a structural cause behind more ideological vaccine hesitancy, less studied so far.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding intellectual property rights among medical, dental, and nursing professionals in a tertiary institution in Bhubaneswar City, Odisha: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) about intellectual property rights (IPRs) among medical, dental, and nursing students and faculties in a tertiary institute through cross-sectional survey in Bhubaneswar City, Odisha.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted from October to December, 2021 in a tertiary institution in Bhubaneswar city, Odisha. A self-structured, 29 close-ended questionnaires based on IPRs was used in the survey. The data obtained were tabulated and analyzed statistically using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0. All the components of KAP were measured as absolute and relative frequencies. They were also assessed as mean and standard deviation. Descriptive analysis through frequency distribution was calculated and the Chi-square test was applied. The correlation between the domains was determined using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

RESULT

A total of 489 participants participated in the survey, out of which 196 (40.1%) were males and 293 (59.9%) were females; 177 (36.2%) were interns, 147 (30.1%) were postgraduates, and 165 (33.7%) were faculties from all the three fields (medical, dental, and nursing). A total of 192 (39.3%) participants were from medical, 198 (40.5%) from dental, and 99 (20.2%) were from the nursing field. The mean KAP scores were significantly (P < 0.0001) higher among nursing interns respondents (2.963, 0.637, and 0.390), dental postgraduate respondents (2.213, 0.844, and 0.351), and dental faculties (1.953, 0.876, and 0.481). The mean knowledge score was significantly (P < 0.0001) greater among females than males and the mean attitude and practice scores were significantly (P < 0.0001) greater among males than females. Pearson's correlation coefficientwas found to be significant for knowledge-attitude, knowledge-practice domain. The values obtained were statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that more KAP was found in dental faculties, dental postgraduates, and nursing interns. However, the need to know IPR is still lacking among the healthcare professionals. Since IPR is the need of the hour and it has a potential ahead, it is necessary to include it in the curriculum so as to increase the knowledge about IPR among individuals, which will enable to creation of dynamic innovations in the near future.

Pitfalls in patenting academic CAR-T cells therapy

INTRODUCTION

Emerging immunotherapies are pushing the boundaries of cancer treatment, with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy being one of the most advanced. Due to the increasingly crowded CAR-T cell field, patenting and protecting the intellectual property of these CAR-T cells implies a good knowledge of the legal landscape.

AREAS COVERED

The present manuscript focuses on the challenges regarding the patenting process of CAR-T technology, beginning with a description of the main characteristics of CAR-T cells and their functionalities, continuing with the legal landscape applicable to patenting processes, and concluding by presenting the potential strategies to overcome the impediments that can appear when trying to patent CAR-T cells. It is meant to offer insights for those who are exploring possible patenting options in CAR-T cells territory. PubMed and Patenscope databases were used for patent and literature searching (2013-2023).

EXPERT OPINION

There is no one-size-fits-all solution in this matter and the medical evolution of this therapy will certainly bring out even more challenges. Comprehensive knowledge of the intellectual property, exposure to potential litigation, growing competition, and the high price of therapy, are strikingly relevant in the broader landscape. Future endeavors would be to take steps towards the harmonization of the CAR-T patenting procedure.

Trends in Ophthalmological Patents, 2005-2020

Purpose: Technological development drives the optimization of therapeutics in ophthalmology, but quantifiable and systematic review of such innovation is lacking. To fill this gap, we characterize trends in ophthalmology-related patents in the United States from 2005 to 2020. Methods: Publicly available patent data from the US Patent and Trademark Office was analyzed with the R programming language. Ophthalmology-related patents were identified with a keyword search of their titles and claims text. Temporal trends were assessed with the Mann-Kendall trend test (α = 0.05, two-sided). Results: Of 4.5 million collected patents, some 21,000 (0.5%) were ophthalmology related. The number of annually granted ophthalmology patents increased over time (Mann-Kendall test: z = 4.91; P < 0.001), from 619 patents released in 2005 to 2,019 patents in 2020. Patent counts also increased over time for all ophthalmic subspecialties except oculoplastics, with steepest rises in retina (z = 4.91; P < 0.001) and cornea (z = 4.64; P < 0.001). The most cited patents were in biocompatible intraocular implants and implantable controlled-release drug delivery systems, which underscores particular advancement in therapeutic efficacy and safety in devices used in the treatment and management of common yet debilitating eye conditions. Conclusion: This exploratory analysis reveals hotspots for ophthalmology-related innovation in the United States that may predict current and future growth trends in device development and pharmacologic advancement in ophthalmology, paving the way for more diverse and effective treatment options for preserving vision.

Transparency of data on the value chain of medicines in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia

Introduction: The transparency of data on the value chain of medicines is crucial for the study and monitoring of the pharmaceutical system. These data may impact medicine pricing negotiations, contribute to patient access to pharmaceutical products, and strengthen health systems. Objective: This study analyzed the national strategies to ensure the transparency of data from medicine cost development to marketing in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. Method: A descriptive study was carried out by searching databases, reports, documents, and scientific articles published between January and August 2022 related to rules on transparency and databases, including 1) marketing authorization; 2) pricing; 3) intellectual property; 4) clinical trials; 5) research and development (R&D); and 6) health technology assessment (HTA) of selected biopharmaceuticals. Results: Transparency data, rules, and information are not uniform. The infostructures (organizational capacity for collecting and distributing information) regarding the pharmaceutical value chain in these three countries face limitations in appropriate measures to publicly share data and evidence, including pre-clinical data, clinical data, and costs. None of the countries require transparency about data on research and development costs. All three countries present similar publicization of data on marketing authorization and intellectual property, with some differences. The significant limitations in Argentina include the absence of formal price regulation and data on the volume of medicine purchased and respective amounts paid. Among the three countries, Brazil showed a higher degree of information transparency, perhaps due to the legal regulation that guarantees citizens access to information of public interest. Brazil also stands out in terms of the public availability of HTA reports and pricing, in addition to the highest volume of information. In contrast, Colombia has in place a decree that allows 5 years of trial data exclusivity for new medicines, an act contrary to data transparency. Despite the different stages of transparency, no country has evidenced a robust use of these data in public policy decision-making. Conclusion: The results reinforce the presence of information asymmetry between stakeholders, data fragmentation, data gaps and overlap, and difficulty in comparing available data across the three countries and the use of these data nationally to produce evidence.

Tomato as a Natural Source of Dyes in the Food Industry: A Patent Data Analysis

BACKGROUND

Foods that promote health benefits are being increasingly used. Innovative techniques, such as nanotechnology, have been used to improve functional properties, sensory characteristics, or the conservation of foods.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to identify the technological domain of patents for tomato products with or without nanotechnology and elucidate the technological advances associated with the recent use of tomatoes as a natural food dye in the food industry by exploring patent documents.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The search was conducted using the Espacenet and INPI databases. There was an increase in patent document applications employing nanotechnology in 2013, with a peak between 2017 and 2018. China is the lead country in the number of patent applications. In Brazil, the patent applications are variable, and the food industry is most involved in studies on tomatoes as a natural food dye. Most patent deposits using nanotechnology were from companies, and the main sources of the patent application were the food and pharmaceutical industries.

CONCLUSION

There is an increasing trend for the use of tomatoes as natural food dyes, produced with or without nanotechnology, and number of patents filed yearly. New technologies are being developed in several application areas.

Trade, intellectual property, and the public health bearing

The objective of this article is to describe the current fracture between global trade and public health priorities, as well as examine opportunities for harmonisation. A literature review of public health, global trade, and intellectual property articles describes several issues with recommendations. Currently, there is mixed quality of research and a lack of health impact assessments to accompany the global trade agenda. Human rights concepts continue in debate as flexibilities to trade laws remain without organised surveillance or evaluation. There are specific, relevant recommendations to implement a trade agenda inclusive of public health leadership. Recent trade and intellctual property advances in public health collaborations should be supported and continued. Trade groups should produce impact assessments before decisions on policies are made, with quality to the research. Lastly, a global research and development treaty should be an open, accessed path.

Airway and Hypothermia Prevention: and Treatment via STEAM The System for Thermogenic Emergency Airway Management

Military medicine has made significant advancements in decreasing mortality by addressing the lethal triad - metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, and hypothermia. However, casualties are still succumbing to injury. Recent conflict zones have led to the development of remarkable life-saving innovations, including the management of compressible hemorrhage and whole blood transfusions. Nevertheless, hypothermia prevention and treatment techniques remain relatively unchanged. Hypothermia prevention is anticipated to become more critical in future operations due to a predicted increase in evacuation times and reliance on Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC). This is likely secondary to increasingly distanced battlespaces and the mobility challenges of operating in semi-/non-permissive environments. Innovation is essential to combat this threat via active airway rewarming in the vulnerable patient. Thus, we propose the development, fabrication, and efficacy testing of a device in which we estimate being able to control temperature and humidity at physiologic levels in the PCC setting and beyond.

Abundance and Equality

The technology driven post-scarcity society is upon us. Ubiquitous technologies are eradicating scarcity in many industries. These macroscopic system trends are causing our economy to transition from relative scarcity to relative abundance. For many people in the world however, in both developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries, the notion of an Age of Abundance will sound utterly bizarre. There is a tension between abundance and equality. Good governance considers in what manner the state conducts public policy, manages public resources and promotes overall prosperity. This chapter connects good governance to the end of scarcity and integrates equality into abundance. The chapter critically examines the normative justifications of our scarcity based legal institutions, such as property and intellectual property (IP) systems, in light of 10 exponential, Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, and the post-scarcity economy. Starting point is that absolute and relative abundance are not utopian. Technology will erase scarcity in more and more economic areas in the foreseeable future, but not everywhere or for everybody. The chapter views relative scarcity and relative abundance as temporal socio-economic categories at two opposite sides of a continuum. The chapter unifies good governance with equality and abundance, by introducing a post-Rawlsian Equal Relative Abundance (ERA) principle of distributive justice. This includes defining a set of material and immaterial primary goods, warranting adequate, sufficient levels of relative abundance (which depend on technological evolution), and equitable results per region or group. Crucially, ERA integrates desert-based principles to the degree that some may deserve a higher level of material goods because of inequality in contributions, i.e., their hard work, talent, luck or entrepreneurial spirit, only to the extent that their unequal rewards do also function to improve the position of the least advantaged. A society governed by the ERA principle should in theory be able to solve the poverty trap on a global level. As lifting people from poverty in Europe is a different thing than achieving ERA in the US, applying equal relative abundance techniques in Asia and Africa each have their own specific challenges and dimensions.

"A passion to change the landscape and drive a renaissance": The mRNA Hub at Afrigen as decolonial aspiration

In global conversations about COVID-19 vaccine access, Africa has overwhelmingly been characterized as a site of lack. However, the successful reverse engineering of the Moderna vaccine by Afrigen at the mRNA Hub in Cape Town marks a more hopeful path forward. This paper introduces the mRNA Hub and puts it into context of broader decolonial aspirations for African futures in the face of rich countries' disregard. Highlighting ways in which Afrigen's Managing Director's articulations of the endeavor resonate with historical and contemporary calls to dismantle the unequal global order, we argue that the mRNA Hub provides an example of the potential for decolonial solidarity in the post/pandemic period.

The multidimensional legal nature of personal genomic sequence data: A South African perspective

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the various dimensions in South African law applicable to personal genomic sequence data. This analysis includes property rights, personality rights, and intellectual property rights. Importantly, the under-investigated question of whether personal genomic sequence data are capable of being owned is investigated and answered affirmatively. In addition to being susceptible of ownership, personal genomic sequence data are also the object of data subjects' personality rights, and can also be the object of intellectual property rights: whether on their own qua trade secret or as part of a patented invention or copyrighted dataset. It is shown that personality rights constrain ownership rights, while the exploitation of intellectual property rights is constrained by both personality rights and ownership rights. All of these rights applicable to personal genomic sequence data should be acknowledged and harmonized for such data to be used effectively.

Innovations for Reducing Methane Emissions in Livestock toward a Sustainable System: Analysis of Feed Additive Patents in Ruminants

Simple Summary

The mitigation of the environmental impact of animal production is a global objective, and innovation can provide new strategies and technologies to support the transition toward a more sustainable livestock system. Using patent data analysis to identify innovation dynamics, we explored the sector of feed additives to reduce methane emissions in ruminants. We found that this innovation sector is recent and rapidly expanding, with the European Union representing the center of innovation. The most promising inventions are related to the use of beneficial microorganisms (probiotics) and plant-based extracts.

Abstract

An important challenge for livestock systems is the mitigation of environmental impacts while ensuring food security, and feed additives are considered as one of the most promising mitigation strategies. This study analyzed the innovation landscape of feed additives to reduce methane emissions in ruminants. The analysis is based on patent data to evaluate the development, scientific importance, and market-level impact of the innovations in this field. The results reveal that the EU is on the innovation frontier, with substantial and quality patent production. The innovation field is dominated by private players, characterized by high specificity in the R&D pipeline. Additives derived from plant or botanical extracts, together with 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), represent the emerging innovations, indicating a clear orientation toward more sustainable livestock systems. Despite the regulatory and semantic limitations related to the use of patent databases, data reveal a growing innovation activity at global level, which could lead to macroeconomic benefits for the entire livestock sector.

China on the Way to Global Technology Leadership

China's science and technology complex is considered with account for the dynamics of its development and the structure that has developed to date. Particular attention is paid to the areas that are viewed as the most promising in the course of the fourth industrial revolution; the situation in these technological areas is compared with that in the United States. In addition, the situation in the field of intellectual property in China is analyzed: it is shown how the country has transformed from the main "violator" of intellectual rights into a significant player in the global market of new technologies. The problems that China faces along this path, including the phenomenon of "junk" patents, are highlighted. The prospect of creating a relatively independent technological circuit in China is assessed in the light of the general strategy proclaimed in 2021 to rely mainly on internal factors of growth and development.

The impact of intellectual property protection on the development of digital economy and regional entrepreneurial activity: Evidence from small and medium enterprises

Substantial intellectual property management (IPM) is vital in retaining competitive advantage and managing outbound open innovation (OI), which may enhance an organization's commercialization and entrepreneurial performance. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop an understanding of the impact of intellectual property protection on the development of the digital economy, regional entrepreneurial activity, and explore how IPM can enhance the entrepreneurial performance (EP) through open innovation (OI) and commercialization performance (CP) in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Mainland China. Our study also shows how open innovation model constraints (OIMC) and information communication technology (ICT) enhance the performance. Using the organizational performance theory, we developed our research framework and collected usable data from 530 respondents from the management of SMEs in Mainland China. Data analyses were performed using SPSS, and structural equation modeling was performed using Amos 24 to test the hypothesis. Our results highlighted the significant effect of IPM on OI, CP, and EP. This study suggests various conclusions, stressing the mediating function of CP in improving EP and the direct and indirect effects of OI and CP on EP. This study also emphasizes that business managers need to ensure collaboration among SMEs since it is the best strategy to use each other's resources, including OI ideas, to improve the EP, and it should be done utilizing ICT.

Assessment of knowledge and awareness regarding intellectual property rights among the health-care professionals in Belagavi city: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are increasingly becoming significant for sustainable growth of today's knowledge-based society. An inappropriate knowledge regarding IPR can fail to reserve rights for one's intellectual creation. Hence this study was planned with an aim to assess knowledge, awareness, and practices regarding intellectual property rights in India amongst the health-care professionals in Belagavi city.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the postgraduate students and faculty of six health-care professional institutions in Belagavi, Karnataka. A total of 724 responses were recorded using convenient sampling. Data was collected using self-administered validated questionnaire which included demographic details and total 20 questions pertaining to knowledge, awareness, and practices regarding IPR. Two-point Likert scale was used. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Chi-square test were applied.

RESULTS

A total of 724 responses were recorded, 411 from postgraduate students and 313 from faculty of 6 health-care professional institutions. It was observed that 24.3% and 39.3% of postgraduate students and faculty participants, respectively, had maximum knowledge while 35.5% of faculty and 27.5% of postgraduate students had maximum awareness regarding IPR in India. Only 17.6% and 10.2% of faculty and postgraduate students had previously attended workshops on IPR.

CONCLUSION

The present study identified that both faculty and postgraduate students of health-care profession have less knowledge and awareness regarding IPR. However, both knowledge and awareness regarding IPR were better among faculty when compared to postgraduate students. Thus, the academic community requires a higher level of sensitization and exposure to IPR in India.

An industry update: what's new in the field of therapeutic delivery?

This Industry Update provides an overview of the some of the key events in the pharmaceutical world in December 2021. In this month Eli Lilly & Co invested heavily in drug discovery with deals with Regor Therapeutics on metabolic diseases, and Foghorn Therapeutics on cancer and other diseases caused by faults in the regulation of chromatin unpacking and repacking. Treatments for Covid-19 also feature heavily with the emergency authorization of molnupiravir and Paxlovid™ in the USA, and BiondVax's collaboration agreement with Max Planck and the University Medical Center, Göttingham on their alpaca-based single-chain antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Lastly, this month brought good news on several diseases with poor prognosis and no or limited treatment options. This included Novartis's acquisition of Gyroscope and its gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration, Merck's purchase of Chord Therapeutics and the rights of develop cladribine for generalized myasthenia gravis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, positive phase III interim results for UCB's, Bimzelx^®, in ankylosing spondylitis and AstraZeneca and Ionis co-development and commercialization deal on eplontersen for transthyretin amyloidosis.

Role of traditional knowledge in the COVID-19 battle

This article addresses the role of traditional medicine in the corona virus (COVID-19) battle. It situates traditional medicine within the traditional knowledge and Intellectual Property discussion. The paper discusses the increased gravitation towards using traditional medicine but also identifies the existence of scepticism towards its use. Indigenous communities make up a large portion of the traditional medicine community and are therefore called upon to play their role in the fight against COVID-19. The battle is real, the coronavirus ground is an intersecting one with multiple, plausible solutions. Traditional medicine has a role in this battle and this article advocates for collaboration. It is a clarion call for all stakeholders to join hands to fight the virus. It advocates inclusion rather than exclusion.

Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceuticals in High-Income Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Policy Points Pharmaceutical trade organizations and media outlets in the United States regularly point to compulsory licensing-or even its threat-as the mechanism that peer countries use to control the price of prescription drugs. Our comparative analysis shows that compulsory licensing is not frequently employed in high-income countries outside the United States as a direct response to drug prices. When its use is threatened, a license is rarely issued and even less often does it lead to a price discount. Accordingly, compulsory licensing is unlikely to contribute to price discrepancies between the United States and other developed nations. In fact, of the 21 compulsory licensing petitions we identified outside the United States, over one-third were made by pharmaceutical companies themselves and only three were threatened by a government authority.

CONTEXT

Compulsory licensing is a practice whereby national authorities can license a third party to produce a patented product, such as a pharmaceutical drug, effectively enabling the production of a generic before the original patent expires. The policy was designed-and has historically been used-to improve access to essential medicines in low-income countries and during public health crises. Although it was not intended to impact drug prices directly, the threat of compulsory licensing may indeed contribute to lower drug prices in high-income countries outside the United States. Our study sought to determine the plausibility of this claim.

METHODS

We compiled a comprehensive database of compulsory licensing episodes in the United States and 17 comparator nations over the 20 years following the 2001 Doha Declaration, and we recorded the motivation and outcome of each instance. Our search began with publicly available reports compiled by organizations specializing in pharmaceutical intellectual property, expanded to a query of legal proceedings in Westlaw, and concluded with a comprehensive literature review on PubMed.

FINDINGS

This strategy yielded 45 unique episodes of compulsory licensing, 24 in the United States and 21 outside. A minority (24%) of petitions outside the United States were motivated by high prices, and in all countries, only three cases were clearly associated with a price discount.

CONCLUSIONS

We found no evidence to suggest that compulsory licensing is either frequently threatened or successfully implemented by countries outside the United States to secure price discounts for the most expensive pharmaceuticals, those that are newly patented and just entering the market.

Fables of scarcity in IP

In this chapter, I use methods drawn from literary analysis to bear on artificial scarcity and explore how literary and legal storytelling engages in scarcity mongering. I find three particular narrative strategies calculated to compel a conclusion in favor of propertization: the spectacle of need, the diversionary tactic, and the rallying cry. First, I unpack the spectacle of need and its diversionary aspects through several literary accounts of scarcity and starvation. I juxtapose Franz Kafka's "A Hunger Artist," a story explicitly centered on a wasting body, with J.M. Coetzee's The Life and Times of Michael K. Second, to explore how scarcity fables offer diversionary tactics that redirect attention away from actual scarcity, I consider NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. NFTs reflect the arbitrary value scarcity can produce, especially when artificially generated. Yet NFTs offer a spectacle of need that distracts from actual scarcity, riding a wave of expansionist property logic that suggests that more ownership is the answer. Third, to consider the scarcity fable's propertarian rallying cry, I offer an extended close reading of a copyright dispute, Leonard v. Stemtech, involving a pair of microscopic stem cell photographs deemed so scarce they were valued at 100 times their past licensing history. Leonard illustrates how a scarcity fable may look in the context of intellectual property ("IP"). The nature of this chapter is necessarily conceptual and speculative, designed to raise questions rather than attempting conclusively to answer them. Through juxtaposition of literary accounts and one legal case study, fables of scarcity emerge as a genre whose very appearance in certain contexts ought to give scholars and policymakers pause. In copyright litigation, in which expansionist property narratives may be especially harmful to the public domain and subsequent creators, scarcity fables may be made to provide apparent support for potentially dangerous changes. Identifying scarcity fables as such when they appear in copyright cases could trigger review of the asserted scarcity and a more searching inquiry into whether the proposed solution could worsen actual scarcity.

"Idealists and capitalists": ownership attitudes and preferences in genomic citizen science

The perspectives of genomic citizen scientists on ownership of research outputs are not well understood, yet they are useful for identifying alignment of participant expectations and project practices and can help guide efforts to develop innovative tools and strategies for managing ownership claims. Here, we report findings from 52 interviews conducted in 2018 and 2019 to understand genomic citizen science stakeholders' conceptualizations of, experiences with, and preferences for ownership of research outputs. Interviewees identified four approaches for recognizing genomic citizen scientists' ownership and related credit interests in research outputs: shared governance via commons models; fractional ownership of benefits; full and creative attribution; and offensive and defensive patenting. Interviewees also agreed that the model selected by any project should at least maximize access to research outputs and, as appropriate and to the extent possible, broadly distribute rights of control and entitlements to research benefits.

Exploring the Patent Landscape and Innovation of Hydrogel-based Bioinks Used for 3D Bioprinting

BACKGROUND

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the patent situation for hydrogel- based bioinks used for 3D bioprinting globally. It encapsulates information which could be used as a reference by researchers in the fields of 3D bioprinting, biomaterials, tissue engineering, and biomedical engineering, as well as those interested in biomaterials, especially in the formulation of hydrogels. It can also inform policy discussions, strategic research planning, or technology transfer in this area. The findings presented hereinafter are considered novel research aspects regarding the used hydrogels, their preparation methods, and their formulations, as well as the 3D bioprinting process using hydrogels. Furthermore, the novel part, synthesized patents, is regarded as a breakthrough in hydrogel- based bioinks.

METHODS

The following research aspects of this study are based on data collection from selected patent databases. The search results are then analyzed according to publication years, classification, inventors, applicants, and owners, as well as jurisdictions.

RESULTS

Based on the earliest priority date, it is possible to precisely assume that 2004 is considered the starting year of patenting of hydrogel-based bioinks. Furthermore, 2020 was the year with the most patent documents. According to the findings, the United States, China, and the Republic of Korea are the most prolific countries in terms of patenting on hydrogel-based bioinks. The most prolific patenting companies are from the United States, Sweden, and Australia, while universities from the Republic of Korea and the United States are the academic institutions leading the way. Most inventions of hydrogel- based bioinks intended for hydrogels or hydrocolloids used as materials for prostheses or for coating prostheses are characterized by their function or physical properties.

CONCLUSION

The state has been reviewed by introducing what has been patented concerning hydrogelbased bioinks. Knowledge clusters and expert driving factors indicate that the research based on biomaterials, tissue engineering, and biofabrication is concentrated in the most common patent documents. Finally, this paper, which gives a competitive analysis of the past, present, and future trends in hydrogel-based bioinks, leads to various recommendations that could help one to plan and innovate research strategies.

Ethics and governance for internet-based conservation science research

Internet-based research is increasingly important for conservation science and has wide-ranging applications and contexts, including culturomics, illegal wildlife trade, and citizen science. However, online research methods pose a range of ethical and legal challenges. Online data may be protected by copyright, database rights, or contract law. Privacy rights may also restrict the use and access of data, as well as ethical requirements from institutions. Online data have real-world meaning, and the ethical treatment of individuals and communities must not be marginalized when conducting internet-based research. As ethics frameworks originally developed for biomedical applications are inadequate for these methods, we propose that research activities involving the analysis of preexisting online data be treated analogous to offline social science methods, in particular, nondeceptive covert observation. By treating internet users and their data with respect and due consideration, conservationists can uphold the public trust needed to effectively address real-world issues.

Legal Matters: The Legal Context of Health Informatics in Global Pandemics

Law and regulation have not received much attention as part of the context shaping and being shaped by health informatics. Telemedicine, data, devices and software, and electronic health records (EHRs) are examples of how technologies are affected by privacy, intellectual property protections, and other law and regulation.

The debate around the access to vaccine and licensing amidst second wave of COVID-19 in India

The guardian of global health signified a "global response" to contain COVID 19 utilising the platform of World Health Organization when the novel virus strain was spreading. The nature of "waves," that is, variable epidemiological patterns and peaks in trajectory, have been inconsistent and myriad in different regions and countries. Many researchers and scholars have deliberated on the possible ways forward to curb or mitigate the effects of the virus; and one such means is through universal vaccination. Hence, this article explores the positions to achieve that goal by looking at the licensing aspect and IP waiver debate and suggests a fine-tuning which balances all the interests, amidst the second wave in India.

Cultured meat - a patentometric analysis

Cultured meat (CM) has emerged as a breakthrough technology, which has the potential to minimise future negative impacts associated with the rapidly growing world population; such as serious environmental, sustainability, global public health, and animal welfare concerns. Recently numerous researchers in academia and companies have been putting significant efforts into scientific and translational development in this field. Since various pillars of CM manufacturing hold substantial translational potential, there has been a steady interest in filing patent applications globally in the past decade. For the first time, we have performed a patentometric analysis for cultured meat by highlighting the current patents landscape, determining prolific organisations and geographical locations active in the area, and identifying the overall outlook for the field. In total, > 190 patents published in the English language were collected from 1997 to 2020 for the analysis. Relevant data were extracted from the patents, including technology focus, country of origin, assignees, priority date, cooperative patent classification (CPC) code, to analyse the current patent landscape.

Turning Neural Prosthetics Into Viable Products

Academic researchers concentrate on the scientific and technological feasibility of novel treatments. Investors and commercial partners, however, understand that success depends even more on strategies for regulatory approval, reimbursement, marketing, intellectual property protection and risk management. These considerations are critical for technologically complex and highly invasive treatments that entail substantial costs and risks in small and heterogeneous patient populations. Most implanted neural prosthetic devices for novel applications will be in FDA Device Class III, for which guidance documents have been issued recently. Less invasive devices may be eligible for the recently simplified “de novo” submission routes. We discuss typical timelines and strategies for integrating the regulatory path with approval for reimbursement, securing intellectual property and funding the enterprise, particularly as they might apply to implantable brain-computer interfaces for sensorimotor disabilities that do not yet have a track record of approved products.

[Consideration on Academia Environments for Creating Medical Innovation]

The spread of COVID-19 has re-affirmed the crucial importance of the pharmaceuticals industry in improving the level of citizens' health and medical care, as well as the industry's importance in terms of contribution to economic growth and tax revenues. Although some time has passed since the importance of industry-academia collaboration was first raised in relation to the creation of innovative new drugs and the continuation of global competitiveness, conflicts between academia and companies have also been highlighted as barriers that hinder efforts to promote the practical realization of academia-initiated seeds. The authors have hypothesized that conflicts between academia and companies can be attributed to the vulnerability of innovation creation environments, including drug discovery, on the academia side, insufficient awareness concerning human resources that will undertake industry-academia operations, and inadequate development of structures. Consequently, we implemented fact-finding investigations in relation to universities and public research institutions in Japan, with the objective of ascertaining the actual status of innovation creation environments, including drug discovery, on the academia side. From the results of these investigations, we will clarify the issues that may present barriers to innovation creation, and consider policies, etc. for the enhancement of innovation creation environments.

Institutional approaches to preventing questionable research practices

Questionable research practices (QRP) are actions taken by researchers that span a range of concern related to violation of research best practices, and ultimately expose institutions and research participants to risk. Numerous studies have shown that QRP are common. The continued prevalence of QRP indicates that existing approaches for dealing with QRP are falling short. In this editorial we discuss the risks associated with QRP and propose mitigation strategies at the institutional level using a common QRP as an example, questionable treatment of subgroup analyses. We argue that the need for institutional intervention in cases such as this are particularly motivating when both the investigator and the institution have a substantial financial conflict of interest related to intellectual property that requires the investigator's expertise to continue developing. To address this, we propose an expansion of the traditional conflict of interest management process.

Content Analysis of Patent Applications for Strength Training Equipment Filed in the United States Before 1980

ABSTRACT

Nuzzo, JL. Content analysis of patent applications for strength training equipment filed in the United States before 1980. J Strength Cond Res 35(10): 2952-2962, 2021-Strength training history is an emerging academic area. The aim of the current study was to describe quantitively the history of inventions for strength training equipment. Content analysis was conducted of patent applications for strength training equipment filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office before 1980. Applications were identified using relevant keyword searches in Google Patents. A total of 551 patent applications were analyzed. The earliest application identified was filed in 1860. Applications never exceed 6 per year until 1961 after which applications increased substantially, with a peak of 54 in 1979. Men invented 98.7% of all strength training devices. Lloyd J. Lambert, Jr. was the most prolific inventor, with 10 inventions. Types of inventions included mobile units (34.5%), stationary machines (27.9%), dumbbells (16%), racks or benches (8.0%), barbells (6.7%), and Indian clubs (3.8%). Common features included seats or benches (18.7%), cable-pulley systems (15.1%), weight stacks (8.2%), weight trays (4.5%), and cams (2.2%). Common types of resistance included weights or plates (33.2%), springs (11.6%), friction (9.1%), elastic bands (5.3%), and hydraulic (3.8%). Proposed invention benefits included adjustable resistance (37.4%), inexpensive (36.1%), simple to use (32.8%), compact design or easy storage (27.0%), multiple exercise options (26.1%), safety and comfort (25.4%), effectiveness (23.6%), portability (20.5%), adjustable size (15.8%), sturdiness or durability (15.8%), home use (13.6%), and light weight (13.6%). Certain aspects of strength training equipment have evolved over time. However, overall purposes and benefits of inventions have remained constant (e.g., affordability, convenience, personalization, safety, and effectiveness).

Orphan Drugs, Compounded Medication and Pharmaceutical Commons

Regulatory agencies installed orphan drug regulations to stimulate research and development of new innovative treatments for life-threatening diseases with a low prevalence (rare diseases). We established a list of well-known food-related ingredients with clinical evidence for rare diseases in the open medical literature that obtained marketing authorization as an expensive “orphan drug”, protected by intellectual property (IP) rights. We show that these ingredients are part of an established practice of medicinal compounding—a form of point of care manufacturing. We argue that these ingredients should be considered as “pharmaceutical commons”, and that regulatory incentives for private companies and market protection mechanisms such as IP rights are not justified in this case.

Ten principles for data sharing and commercialization

Digital medical records have enabled us to employ clinical data in many new and innovative ways. However, these advances have brought with them a complex set of demands for healthcare institutions regarding data sharing with topics such as data ownership, the loss of privacy, and the protection of the intellectual property. The lack of clear guidance from government entities often creates conflicting messages about data policy, leaving institutions to develop guidelines themselves. Through discussions with multiple stakeholders at various institutions, we have generated a set of guidelines with 10 key principles to guide the responsible and appropriate use and sharing of clinical data for the purposes of care and discovery. Industry, universities, and healthcare institutions can build upon these guidelines toward creating a responsible, ethical, and practical response to data sharing.

The Contrasting Perceptions and the Cause Regarding Patenting Technologies Between Academic Medical Researchers and Pharmaceutical Companies Based in Japan

Background

The recent trend of pharmaceutical companies commercializing new objects as new drugs based on the findings of academic medical researchers, commonly categorizing them as "academic drug discovery" is increasingly gaining popularity in the pharmaceutical industry. Studies state that academic researchers based in universities have lower motivation to apply for patents. However, none of the studies evaluated the existence and extent of the "motivation for patent" in academic researchers, being lower than that of pharmaceutical companies. This study assesses two hypotheses; H1: academic medical researchers are less likely to believe that the patent system is necessary for pharmaceuticals, and thus have diminished interest in the commercialization of their research findings when compared to those in the pharmaceutical industry, H2: apprehension of the raison d'être of the patent system affects positive impressions on patents among academic medical researchers.

Methods

From February to March 2020, an anonymous survey was conducted among academic medical researchers, pharmaceutical industry professionals, and IP researchers based in Japan. Overall response rate was 27.4% (192/700). We conducted an analysis of variance for H1 and used the PLS-SEM model for H2 in order to verify the hypotheses.

Results

The results confirmed that the mean calculated from the responses of the academic medical researchers was significantly lower than the mean of pharmaceutical company personnel when responses to patenting an emerging technology or drug for the advancement of medicine were analyzed. In addition, we found that a causal relationship between academic medical researchers' understanding of patents and their positive impressions on patents, depending on the degree to which they consider that the patent system is to encourage and promote new inventions.

Conclusion

We conclude that a contrasting perception of patents not only exists between academic medical researchers and pharmaceutical company personnel but also it is caused by their apprehension of patents. More efforts to promote the raison d'être of the patent system among academic medical researchers will enable them to view pharmaceutical patents in a more positive light. Through this study, the pertinence to promote academic drug discoveries has been uncovered.

Nanomedicine for the poor: a lost cause or an idea whose time has yet to come?

The most effective COVID-19 vaccines, to date, utilize nanotechnology to deliver immunostimulatory mRNA. However, their high cost equates to low affordability. Total nano-vaccine purchases per capita and their proportion within the total vaccine lots have increased directly with the GDP per capita of countries. While three out of four COVID-19 vaccines procured by wealthy countries by the end of 2020 were nano-vaccines, this amounted to only one in ten for middle-income countries and nil for the low-income countries. Meanwhile, economic gains of saving lives with nano-vaccines in USA translate to large costs in middle-/low-income countries. It is discussed how nanomedicine can contribute to shrinking this gap between rich and poor instead of becoming an exquisite technology for the privileged. Two basic routes are outlined: (1) the use of qualitative contextual analyses to endorse R&D that positively affects the sociocultural climate; (2) challenging the commercial, competitive realities wherein scientific innovation of the day operates.

Patenting a living microbial cell: 40th anniversary of US Supreme Court decision Diamond versus Chakrabarty

Patents for microbiology and biotechnology are generally for a process (for example DNA cloning; and polymerase chain reaction, PCR) and not for the microbe itself. The patent for oil degrading bacteria was different in that it covered the modified microbial cell itself, a Pseudomonas strain with laboratory-assembled plasmids that encoded the bacterial degradation of multiple components of crude oil. It was first applied for in 1972, initially refused by the patent office on the basis that it was a living organism, and then eight years later in June 1980 allowed by the US Supreme Court ruling that this did not matter and the only issue was whether it was a novel manufactured product.

Pharmaceuticals agents for preventing NSAID-induced gastric ulcers: a patent review

INTRODUCTION

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a class of drugs widely used due to their pharmacological potential, demonstrating anti-inflammatory, analgesic, or antipyretic activity. However, prolonged use of these medications can lead to the development of gastric ulcers in patients. This review aimed to find patents for drugs with an anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective character to treat NSAID-induced gastric ulcers.

AREAS COVERED

For the treatment of NSAID-induced gastric ulcers, formulations with different action mechanisms were found, including donors of nitric oxide, heterocyclic compounds, and natural products.

EXPERT OPINION

Many of the structures found have already been used in clinic settings and others, and according to the results found, they are promising for the treatment of gastric ulcers.