Plan trades off with open source HGP, harming research
Jorge L. Contreras (Contact Author), 2-15-2021, University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3808319, "COVID-19 as an Example of Why Genomic Sequence Data Should Remain Patent Ineligible," No Publication (ermo/sms, Acc:6-28-2024)
In early 2021, new legislative proposals to strengthen patents, including by Senators Tillis and Coons, began to percolate as the Biden administration prepared to take office. Yet despite unsubstantiated claims that increased patent protection would have facilitated the speedier development and deployment of COVID-related diagnostics, vaccines, and therapies, there is ample evidence to suggest that, at least in the case of genomic sequences, a return to the days of patenting would have been counterproductive.
The Value of Open Genomic Data
The Genomic Commons
Since the Human Genome Project (HGP) (1988-2003), the field of genomic research has been characterized by norms of international collaboration and data sharing. Explicit patent deterrence strategies were embodied in the data sharing policies adopted by the governmental and philanthropic funding agencies that supported this research, resulting in a vast aggregation of genomic data that is available to researchers around the world — the “Genomic Commons” (Contreras & Knoppers, 2018). Contributions to this public store of knowledge were made not only by governmental and academic laboratories, but by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies (Contreras & Knoppers, 2018). Research has shown that the public availability of genomic data from the HGP has significantly enhanced scientific research as compared to data that is maintained as proprietary (Williams, 2013)