Rapid growth in stem cell technology despite barriers

Published: 1-Aug-2005


Investment into stem cell technology is continuing apace despite public controversy and legal and regulatory barriers, according to a report by patent and trade mark attorneys Marks & Clerk. In its Biotechnology Report 2005, the company reveals that more than 3,000 patent applications related to stem cell technology have been filed worldwide since 2000, with a sharp annual increase in patents filed and granted between 2000 and 2003. As a result, patent activity was 127% higher in 2003 than in 2000.

'The message from this report seems to be simple: biotech companies are undeterred by the hostile research environment that currently governs the stem cell sector,' said Claire Irvine, partner at Marks & Clerk and co-author of the report. 'The market is aware that there is potentially a huge revenue stream from stem cell research - the world market value currently stands at US$2.7bn (e2.25bn) and is set to grow significantly over the next few years.'

The report also found that the UK had the highest number of first filings in stem cell research across Europe during the period 2000-04, accounting for 31% of all European first filings. Globally, only the US, Japan and Australia have received more first filings than the UK. The US, however, dominates, with four times as many first filings as Japan, Australia and the UK put together.

The report also finds that China is beginning to show its potential as a global economic power in the biotechnology sector, particularly in cancer therapeutics. The Chinese company Shanghai Biowindow Gene Development was granted the highest number of patents over the period 2000-04, with Bayer in second place and another Chinese company, Shanghai Bode Gene Development, in third place.

'While the boom in patents granted to Chinese companies was largely as a result of the explosion of genetic information from the human genome project in 2001, this does illustrate that China is fully equipped to make its mark on the international biotechnology stage,' Irvine said. 'More established centres of research should not ignore the competitive threat from Chinese research.'

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