Project to Use Intellectual Property to Support Health Research Institutions in Developing Countries Gathers Pace

Geneva, September 28, 2005
Press Releases PR/2005/419

A project, coordinated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with the generous financial support of the Geneva International Academic Network (RUIG-GIAN), aimed at supporting developing country health research institutions in protecting their research results has reached its half-way point. The aim of the project, which was launched in September 2004, is to create networks of research institutions and develop local expertise to protect and commercialize research results through the use of patents and other types of intellectual property (IP).

More than 30 research institutions from 6 Central African nations (Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo) and, in South America, from the nation of Colombia, are participating in the Project. Many of these research institutions are working in the struggle against malaria and other tropical diseases. More than 90 scientists and lawyers have been trained in techniques such as drafting of patent applications and licensing agreements.

In developing countries, much important research is undertaken in the field of health and yet researchers in these countries are often not in a position to own and exploit their research results because of a lack of critical infrastructure and resources, as well as key IP professional skills. This leads to low economic returns on research and development (R&D) investment, and difficulties in promoting local development of desperately needed health therapies. Moreover, the lack of opportunity for IP ownership among researchers deprives developing countries of the effective negotiating leverage that IP asset ownership brings. Such leverage is of particular importance to these countries when concluding technology transfer agreements.

The WIPO-GIAN project is designed to test a model that can be used to address the critical infrastructural and resource challenges facing many developing country health research institutions. The Project is establishing two R&D networks each serviced by an "IP hub." R&D networks are made up of research institutions that agree to common policies and to share common services. Such networks are designed to leverage costs and resources by using economies of scale and may also accelerate research. The "IP hub" serves a vital function in supporting and strengthening research in developing countries by providing common services that may include:

• Legal protection of research results;
• Managing and licensing IP owned by the research institutions;
• Encouraging public-private partnerships;
• Marketing the R&D Network and its IP assets;
• Looking for and negotiating funding;
• Encouraging the development of local manufacturing;
• In the case of health R&D networks, they may play an important role in facilitating local development, production and distribution of medicines based on both conventional approaches and traditional medicine.

The role of Swiss partners in the Project has been pivotal. The project "Research Networks and Intellectual Property: A Model for Supporting Developing Country Researchers in Creating, Owning and Exploiting Health Research Results" was funded by RUIG-GIAN and brings together a total of 11 partner institutions and a multidisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners from several developing and developed countries to address this issue. The following Swiss partners are involved in the project:

• The Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN)
• Hautes Etudes Commerciales HEC (The University of Geneva)
• Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva
• Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel
• International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne
• Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED)

The project is interdisciplinary drawing on expertise in the field of health, management, marketing, economics, law and policy to find creative solutions and build a realistic model through research, test and evaluation. Additional information is available from www.ruig-gian.org.

Journalists seeking further information may consult http://www.ruig-gian.org or contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO: Tel: (+ 41 22) 338 81 61, 228 95 47 Fax: (+41 22) 338 82 80, E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int.