Global Security Newswire
Daily News on Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Weapons, Terrorism and Related Issues
Biotech Firms Worry About Liability, Funding in Wake of Pending “Bioshield II” Legislation
Biotechnology companies are expressing concerns about liability, funding and patent protection as the U.S. Congress begins considering a new round of biological defense legislation dubbed “Bioshield II,” the Boston Globe reported Friday (see GSN, June 10).
Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) have all started work on new proposals for Bioshield II, including offering extended patents for certain drugs that do not have major commercial value and allowing current vaccine liability programs to cover some projects.
Executives worry that their companies could be sued over side effects caused by drugs rushed to treat people for agents such as smallpox or anthrax during an emergency. They also said they need more money to pursue work on biological defenses.
As long such issues remain unresolved, pharmaceutical firms and other businesses are unlikely to take on a great deal of biological defense work, said Richard Hollis, chief executive of a California pharmaceuticals company.
Some say greater incentives need to be offered to firms.
“The question is, why is it that the industry is still completely disinterested, and what will it take to get them interested?” said Chuck Ludlam, legislative counsel to Lieberman. “If we don’t get them interested, we have no prospects for developing the medicines we need,” he added (Ross Kerber, Boston Globe, June 18).
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NTI Analysis
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Between Publishing and Perishing? H5N1 Research Unleashes Unprecedented Dual-Use Research Controversy
May 3, 2012
Recently, researchers in the Netherlands and the United States identified genetic mutations that could enable H5N1 bird flu to become easily transmissible from one human to another. Controversy has emerged about whether the details of these two particularly sensitive H5N1 studies should be openly published to aid global pandemic preparedness or withheld in the interests of national security. Because similar trade-offs will emerge frequently in the field of biotechnology, the task of devising effective management strategies for so-called "dual-use research of concern" will continue to increase in both complexity and importance.
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Talking Points: Ten Years of GSN's Quote of the Day
Oct. 4, 2011
An anthology of quotes from the "Quote of Day" feature in Global Security Newswire.
Country Profile
United States
This article provides an overview of the United States’ historical and current policies relating to nuclear, chemical, biological and missile proliferation.
