March 2012
Experts from the Working Group on Licences and Technical Contracts Discuss Biotech Patent Law
The Working Group on Licences and Technical Contracts held a teleconference at the beginning of February to discuss the Bundestag’s interparty motion on biotech patent law. The aim of the joint motion by all parties represented in the Bundestag (apart from the Left Party) is to amend the EU’s directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions and German patent law and to prevent the patenting of conventionally bred livestock and plants.
BIO Deutschland Suggests Amending the EU’s Community Framework in the Interests of Innovative SMEs
The European Union’s set of regulations in the Community Framework for State Aid for Research and Development and Innovation (2006/C 323/1), which aims to prevent the threat of distortion of competition caused by cross-subsidisation, is to be evaluated and possibly extended beyond its current applicability until 31 December 2013.
World Cancer Day Press Event Held in Berlin in Early February
In the run-up to World Cancer Day at the beginning of last month, a press event called “German Science Day – Fight Cancer!” was held in Berlin on 2 February. The one-day conference was open to journalists from both the specialist and non-specialist media. Presentations by a large number of German biotech companies provided insight into new therapeutic approaches and showed the current level of development of promising innovative drug candidates. The event focused on expected clinical results in 2012.
BIO Deutschland Welcomes Suggestions on Mobilising Venture Capital for Innovations
As the sector association of the biotechnology industry, BIO Deutschland welcomes the new report by the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation. Commenting on the report in Berlin, the association noted that it reinforces the Federal Government’s recent decision to mobilise venture capital for innovative young companies and provides concrete suggestions on how to do so.