Gene patenting and medical research: a view from a pharmaceutical company

Recent reports on gene patenting claim that it has had a negative impact on medical research and have advocated changes in the law to address the negative effects the authors perceive to exist. These reports are based on anecdotal rather than objective evidence. In this article we seek to evaluate the impact of gene patenting objectively by examining, in overall terms, whether there has been a net cost or benefit to medical research from gene patenting.