Teleconference by the International Council of Biotech Associations

The International Council of Biotechnology Associations(ICBA) held a teleconference on 4 November 2014. After being welcomed by Jim Greenwood (President & CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization BIO) and Nathalie Moll (Secretary General of EuropaBio), the participants discussed the various points on the agenda. The ICBA now has a LinkedIn group. Nathalie Moll reported on the European Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) Conference. Hans Sauer (Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property,BIO) provided information on the state of play as regards the ICBA’s submission on the Myriad/Mayo guidelines to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Steve Bates of the Bioindustry Association (BIA) and Phyllis Arthur (BIO) spoke about the state of play on the ICBA’s initiative, Incentives for Research and Development of Antibiotics, Novel Treatments, Vaccines, and Biological Approaches to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance. Further fields of action were also discussed during the teleconference. Finally, each national member provided a brief update on the most important topics in his or her country. BIO Deutschland reported on topics including the Federal Government’s pharmaceutical dialogue.

The ICBA will hold its next meeting at the BIO International Convention in Philadelphia in June 2015.