European judge rules against stem cell patents
pharmafile | October 19, 2011 | News story | Research and Development | Stem cells, patents
The European Court of Justice has ruled that stem cells cannot be patented, representing a major blow to research in the area.
Stem cell researchers fear the ruling could damage the whole field of research and drive much of it out of Europe.
The patent system underpins pharma research, playing a vital part in helping firms recoup investments in things like clinical trials, if stem cell can’t be patented then research in the areas could be in jeopardy.
The European Court of Justice said in a statement: “The use of human embryos for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes which are applied to the human embryo and are useful to it is patentable.
“But their use for purposes of scientific research is not patentable. A process which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst [early embryo] stage, entailing the destruction of that embryo, cannot be patented,” the judgment concluded.
Environmental pressure group Greenpeace brought the case to the Court over a patent for nerve cells from embryonic stem cells.
Professor Austin Smith of the Wellcome Trust centre for stem cell research at the University of Cambridge said: “This unfortunate decision by the court leaves scientists in a ridiculous position.
“We are funded to do research for the public good, yet prevented from taking our discoveries to the marketplace where they could be developed into new medicines.
“One consequence is that the benefits of our research will be reaped in America and Asia.”
But lawyers are already suggesting there may be a way round the ruling, by patenting the therapeutic process rather than the stem cells themselves, according to the BBC.
Research in the area is at an early stage, and there are currently only two clinical trials involving embryonic stem cells, with the first in Europe beginning earlier this year.
It is hoped that research into the area could yield new treatments for unmet chronic disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke and heart disease.
Ben Adams
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