Zombie patents — they cost the healthcare system billions, but just won’t die
I’ve been generally unsympathetic to laments that biotech and medical-device companies will suffer if U.S. patent law is reformed, and that has a lot to do with some of the grotesque but legal patent abuses biopharma companies have perpetrated over the years in order to… Continue Reading
Perspective: Patents, post-MedImmune
[NOTE: This article inaugurates our “Perspective” feature, in which entrepreneurs, investors, and other experts discuss developments or pressing issues within the life sciences -- a parallel effort to the "Contributors" section on the main VentureBeat page. We ultimately hope to distinguish perspective pieces from our... Continue Reading
Gleevec pioneer slams Novartis on drug pricing, patents
It’s been clear for some time that bad blood has been building between Oregon Health and Science University researcher Brian Druker (pictured at left), who first showed that the cancer drug Gleevec could produce near-miraculous remissions in certain leukemia patients, and the drugmaker Novartis, which… Continue Reading
Making obviousness more obvious
Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down a patent decision (PDF) that makes it easier to deny or challenge a patent that seems “obvious” to a patent examiner or a court. This decision has already been hailed by the technology industry, which has lobbied hard for… Continue Reading
Reader feedback: Cheap drugs for poor nations, the art of the drug deal
I’m at work on a longer post that hasn’t yet come together, so I thought I’d pull an old dodge favored by daily newspaper columnists and respond to some reader comments instead. Fortunately for me, both comments left here in the past day or so… Continue Reading
Roundup: Thailand vs. Big Pharma, kids with heart disease, biomedical research funding, and more
Arm wrestling over drug patents – Three months ago, the military government running Thailand informed Abbott Laboratories that it intended to break the company’s patents on several expensive drugs, including the HIV protease inhibitor Kaletra, thus allowing the manufacture or import of cheaper knockoffs. Abbott responded… Continue Reading
Patent fight: Tech vs. pharma, round one
A long-awaited struggle over patent reform appears to be upon us, the Washington Post reports today (hat tip to the WSJ’s Health Blog). It pits the tech industry against pharmaceutical/biotech companies over intellectual property protections that, depending on where you stand, are either largely a… Continue Reading
Patent fight: Tech vs. pharma, round one
(Note: This item has been copied over to the Life Sciences page from its original location on the VentureBeat main page. To view it in its original context, with comments, click here.)
A long-awaited struggle over patent reform appears to be upon us, the Washington Post… Continue Reading
Chinks in the stem-cell monopoly
The U.S. patent office has invalidated some key stem-cell patents, a significant move that could shake up a potentially huge market for embryonic stem-cell therapies that may one day restore all kinds of body parts for the sick and injured.
Yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark… Continue Reading
Chinks in the stem-cell monopoly
(Note: This item has been copied over to the Life Sciences page from its original location on the VentureBeat main page. To view it in its original context, with comments, click here.)
The U.S. patent office has invalidated some key stem-cell patents, a significant move that… Continue Reading