Category: Intellectual Property

Announcing 2014-2016 Petrie-Flom Academic Fellow Rachel Sachs

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment
We are pleased to announce that Rachel Sachs will be joining the Petrie-Flom Center later this summer as an Academic Fellow for the 2014-2016 fellowship term. In 2013, Rachel earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was the Articles Chair of the Harvard Law Review and a student fellow with both the Petrie-Flom Center and the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business. Rachel has also earned a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, during which she interned at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She also holds an A.B. in Bioethics from Princeton University. After law school Rachel clerked for the Honorable Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Rachel’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of patent law and public health, with a particular focus on problems of innovation and access and the ways in which law helps or hinders these problems. Her past scholarship has examined the interactions between patent law and FDA regulation in the area of diagnostic tests, and explored the mechanisms behind the passage of patent-related legislation. Her current scholarship applies this focus on innovation and access to the intersection of patent law and drug reimbursement policies.
You can learn more about Rachel on our website.
Welcome Rachel!

You can’t put a price tag on Sovaldi (unless it’s over $84K)

jurrutia 2 Comments

Gilead Sciences has developed a new drug (Sovaldi) that cures hepatitis C.

This is a huge deal: about 150 million people world wide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV); according to the CDC 60-70% of people with chronic HCV will go on to develop chronic liver disease, 5-20% will develop cirrhosis over 20-30 years, and 1-5% will eventually die from the direct consequences of chronic infection (liver cancer or cirrhosis).

Sovaldi, which cures patients about 90% of the time with minimal side effects, could change all of this. John Castellani, President of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America says that this breakthrough is so valuable, that “you just can’t put a price tag on it.”

But of course, a price tag has been put on it: $84,000 for the 12-week course of treatment (or $1,000) per day.

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Expedited FDA Approval for Breakthrough Therapies: Promises and Pitfalls

michaelyoung Leave a comment

By Michael Young

In 2012, the FDA introduced a novel pathway for expedited review of breakthrough therapies. The ‘breakthrough-drug’ designation was carved out by the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which provided for expedited development and review of any drug “intended, alone or in combination with 1 or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on 1 or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development.”  This pathway added to a variety of other accelerated FDA approval programs aimed at improving access to innovative, safer, or more effective therapies for serious medical conditions.

In a recent New England Journal of Medicine article, Jonathan Darrow, Jerry Avorn and Aaron Kesselheim examine the clinical consequences and ethical dimensions of the breakthrough-drug category, and raise a variety of vital questions about its implications for patients.

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Liveblog of 4/2 panel on Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law, Part IV

W. Nicholson Price Leave a comment

By Nicholson Price

Finishing up the event today is Tom Kowalski from Vedder Price, giving a US perspective on section 101 on patentable subject matter.  This post will encompass his presentation and general questions afterward.

Kowalski starts with a brief review of patentable subject matter, and states his view that after Prometheus and Myriad, “the fabric of the patent system has been torn.”  His view is that isolated DNA is a separate chemical entity, and that the Supreme Court simply got it wrong.  Read More

Liveblog of 4/2 panel in European Bio-patent Law, Part III

W. Nicholson Price Leave a comment

By Nicholson Price

Third up is Dr. Maaike van der Kooij, discussing medical use claims at the EPO.

In general, methods of medical treatment aren’t patentable under Art. 53(c) of the EPC, but the way around is to claim a relevant product either for medical use (if the substance is known but not medically used (Art. 54(4)) or for a specific medical use (Art. 54(5)).  (From my point of view, this seems like another way that the EPO is trying to address its innovation mandate by working around what appears to be pretty clear language in the EPC, a pattern which we certainly see in the US in both PTO and Federal Circuit practice). Read More

Liveblog of 4/2 panel on Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law, Part II

W. Nicholson Price Leave a comment

By Nicholson Price

Next up is Dr. Anja Schmitt, comparing Myriad and Mayo to EPO practice, and describing gene patents and diagnostic method patents in the EPO.

Human gene patents

The basic question of human gene patents–as will be familiar to those who followed the Myriad litigation–is whether isolated DNA is a product of nature/mere discovery, or a man-made product with technical character.  In the Myriad case, claims covered isolated DNAs for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes which are useful for identifying a predisposition to breast cancer.

At the EPO, on the other hand–using the same sources of law as Dr. Nichogiannopoulou mentioned before–genes are patentable as long as they disclose the industrial applicability and the function of the gene and/or its encoded protein. Read More

Liveblog of 4/2 panel on Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law, Part I

W. Nicholson Price Leave a comment

By Nicholson Price

I’ll be liveblogging today’s panel on Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law (co-sponsored by the Broad Institute), with several guest speakers from the European Patent Office (EPO).

Ben Roin, Heiken Assistant Professor of Patent Law here at HLS, is moderating.  Speakers will be Dr. Aliki Nichogiannopoulou on stem cells, and Dr. Anja Schmitt on gene patents, Dr. Maiake van der Kooij, all of the EPO, followed by Tom Kowalski of VedderPrice.

Dr. Nichogiannopolou begins by talking about stem cells, and opens with a few background points about the EPO.  The agency has its own implementing legislation separate from the EU, and includes 38 member states – 10 more than the EU itself, including industry-important Switzerland.  The EPO supports innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth for the benefits of European citizens, and has the mandate to grant European patents for inventions. Read More

TOMORROW: Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law: Stem Cells, Genes, and More

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law: Stem Cells, Genes, and More

April 2, 2014, 12:00 PM

Langdell, Vorenberg Classroom – North (225), Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA

Please join us for this esteemed panel of leading patent experts, including members of the European Patent Office. Discussion will address U.S. and European perspectives on patenting stem cells, genes, and medical uses, as well as other ethical and legal issues.

Panelists:

  • Aliki Nichogiannopoulou, Director, Biotechnology, EPO
  • Anja Schmitt, Examiner, EPO
  • Maaike van der Kooij, Examiner, EPO
  • Tom Kowalski, US Patent Attorney
  • Moderator: Benjamin N. Roin, Hieken Assistant Professor in Patent Law, Harvard Law School; Co-Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics; Associate Member, Broad Institute

This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required. Register here.

Lunch will be served. For questions, contact petrie-flom@law.harvard.edu or 617-496-4662.

Cosponsored by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

New regulatory pathways and incentives for sustainable antibiotics: Recent European & US Initiatives

Timo Minssen Leave a comment

By Timo Minssen

Please find attached a ppt presentation on “New regulatory pathways and incentives for sustainable antibiotics: Recent European & US Initiatives” given on March 7, 2014 at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.  The presentation was followed by a discussion moderated by US patent attorney Melissa Hunter-Ensor, Partner at Saul Ewing, Boston.

I started out by emphasizing increasing problems of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on a global level, providing new statistics and facts. This was followed by a discussion of main reasons for these alarming developments, such as inappropriate use in agriculture and medicine, insufficient precautions, lack of education, climate change, travel behavior, insufficient collaboration and funding of R&D, scientific complexities, and the problem that incentives provided by the traditional innovation system model often fail in the case of antibiotics.

Next the presentation focused on a variety of solution models that could be discussed to fight AMR. These include both conservational and preventive approaches comprising use limitations, increased public awareness, and better hygiene, but also reactive push & pull strategies, such as increased investments, new collaborative models for R&D in antibiotics, prizes, “sui generis” IP-related incentives, regulatory responses and new pathways for approval.

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4/2: Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law: Stem Cells, Genes, and More

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

Hot Topics in European Bio-Patent Law: Stem Cells, Genes, and More

April 2, 2014, 12:00 PM

Langdell, Vorenberg Classroom – North (225), Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA

Please join us for this esteemed panel of leading patent experts, including members of the European Patent Office. Discussion will address U.S. and European perspectives on patenting stem cells, genes, and medical uses, as well as other ethical and legal issues.

Panelists:

  • Aliki Nichogiannopoulou, Director, Biotechnology, EPO
  • Anja Schmitt, Examiner, EPO
  • Maaike van der Kooij, Examiner, EPO
  • Tom Kowalski, US Patent Attorney
  • Moderator: Benjamin N. Roin, Hieken Assistant Professor in Patent Law, Harvard Law School; Co-Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics; Associate Member, Broad Institute

This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required. Register here.

Lunch will be served. For questions, contact petrie-flom@law.harvard.edu or 617-496-4662.

Cosponsored by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.