Wellcome seeks alliance to keep genes data public
The Sunday Times, August 30 1998
Matthew Lynn
THE Wellcome Trust and America's National Institutes of
Health are trying to link with top drug companies to create
a jointly funded database of human genes.
The project, which is at an early stage but could cost
hundreds of millions of pounds, is being promoted by
James Watson, the Nobel prizewinner and co-discoverer
of DNA in the 1950s. There are fears that recent initiatives
by American companies may result in human genetic codes
being owned by private companies. This might deny
scientists unable to pay big licence fees access and could
thus slow scientific and medical progress.
A huge amount of investment has gone into the Human
Genome Project, a multinational effort to create a public
database of the hundreds of thousands of genes that make
up the human body. Attention is focusing on
polymorphines, known as SNPs, which define the genetic
difference between one person and another.
It is believed SNPs could have big implications for medical
research and the drugs industry. Michael Morgan, chief
executive of the Wellcome Trust Genome Centre, said:
"We are looking to fund an SNPs database that will keep
this in the public domain." It is estimated the database
could cost $400m (œ240m) to create.
Concern has been prompted by the recent change of
direction by Perkin-Elmer, an American company that has
about 90% of the world market in making gene-sequencing
systems. With Craig Venter, an American scientist, it is
trying to patent information on SNPs for private use.
SNPs could prove important in making existing drugs more
useful, as well as providing a platform for the discovery of
new ones. For example, some drugs cause side-effects,
but if simple genetic scans were available, it should be
possible to tell who can take what drugs. The attempt by
Perkin-Elmer and Venter to keep this sequencing data to
themselves is causing concern among scientists and drug
companies.
Advances in genetic sequencing technology are making the
mapping of the human genome much faster, and allowing
scientists to move to the more complex task of mapping
genetic differences between people.
The market for gene sequencing has become more
competitive with the acquisition of Molecular Dynamics by
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, a joint venture between
Britain's Nycomed Amersham and Pharmacia & Upjohn of
America.
Molecular Dynamics is the main rival to Perkin-Elmer in
the fast-growing market for gene-sequencing equipment.
Unlike Perkin-Elmer, it intends only to supply the system
and has no intention of using the system itself.
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