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Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:41:48 -0800
From: "GMWatch" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: GMW: EU patents on GM chimps challenged
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E.U. Patents on Transgenic Chimps Challenged
Kai Kupferschmidt
ScienceInsider, 13 November 2012
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/11/eu-patents-on-transgeni=
c-chimps-.html

Animal rights activists in Germany are contesting three patents on geneti=
cally engineered chimpanzees granted this year by the European Patent Off=
ice (EPO) in Munich. One of the challenges was filed today; the other two=
 will follow shortly, says Ruth Tippe, a spokesperson for a German advoca=
cy group called No Patents on Life.

"It is incomprehensible why the patent office would grant patents on thes=
e animals," Tippe told ScienceInsider in a phone conversation minutes aft=
er filing papers with EPO to oppose the first of the three patents.

Patent number EP1456346 was granted to Intrexon, a company based in Black=
sburg, Virginia, in February. In it, the company claims to have invented =
a way to introduce into chimpanzees=E2=80=94as well as rats, rabbits, hor=
ses, and other animals=E2=80=94a system to switch specific genes on or of=
f. The animals are intended for pharmaceutical research. "The patent does=
 not show a clear medical benefit that can be weighed against the animals=
' suffering, and does not explain why chimpanzees are needed," Tippe says=
.

Instead of chimpanzees, other animals could be used, Tippe argues. "I'm a=
gainst patents on any animals, but everything would be better than chimpa=
nzees, our closest relatives." She worries that, at a time when using ape=
s in research has become increasingly rare, patenting transgenic chimps c=
ould create an economic incentive to use more of the animals.

In a statement e-mailed to ScienceInsider, Intrexon did not elaborate on =
the potential benefits of transgenic chimps, but it said that "geneticall=
y modified chimpanzees are not an active area of research for Intrexon," =
and that "approximately 99%" of the content of the European patent does n=
ot relate to chimpanzees.

Siobhan Yeats, an examiner of biotechnology patents at EPO, says the offi=
ce routinely weighs animal suffering against expected benefits. If EPO ha=
s no objection on these grounds, then that isn't noted in the patent file=
, she says, "but that does not mean it wasn't looked at." And obtaining a=
 patent does not automatically grant people the right to use their invent=
ion, Yeats says; depending on the country, laws and regulations may ban t=
he use of genetically engineered chimps. "To use a drastic example: If yo=
u get a patent on an atomic bomb, of course you cannot use it," she says.

Intrexon now has 6 months to defend its patent. Then it will be reexamine=
d by at least two new EPO officials before a decision is made to revoke, =
maintain, or amend it.

The company was granted another patent on chimpanzees genetically enginee=
red to include a switch for certain genes this year, whereas Altor BioSci=
ence, based in Miramar, Florida, was granted a patent on chimpanzees with=
 a humanized immune system. The latter could, for instance, be used to te=
st antibody therapies. No Patents on Life, together with a German group c=
alled Testbiotech and other nongovernmental organizations, plans to chall=
enge these patents as well, Tippe says, using similar arguments.


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