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Forwarded Update from PAN : Thank you for all your calls to the Conferees and your Members of Congress. According to the Washington Post, last night the C/J/S Conference Committee reached an agreement on the Weldon Amendment. So, there is no need to continue our call-in campaign. We have not seen the language yet, but as soon as we do, we will get it out to all of you. BIO, a board member of CAMR, is quoted in the article below as understanding that the “new language” of the amendment would permit process patents for stem cell therapies—however, no one has seen the language. As soon as we have additional information, such as a CAMR statement, we will disseminate it. Thank you again for all of your efforts. Best- Laura Jane Laura Jane Cohen Director of Outreach Parkinson's Action Network 1000 Vermont Ave., NW Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005 ph: 202-842-4101 or 800-850-4726 fax: 202-842-4105 [log in to unmask] www.parkinsonsaction.org Hill Negotiators Agree to Bar Patents for Human Organisms Associated Press Tuesday, November 25, 2003; Page A19, Washington Post The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office would be barred from issuing patents on human organisms, such as genetically engineered embryos, under an agreement reached by lawmakers yesterday. Rep. David Joseph Weldon (R-Fla.), a medical doctor who sponsored the provision to be included in a giant spending bill, said it would codify the patent office's existing rule that human organisms are not subject to patents. Weldon said an agreement was worked out with senators to make it clear, in a report accompanying the provision, that the patent ban would not interfere with stem cell research. The provision would ban patents for genetically engineered human embryos, fetuses and human beings but would not affect patents on genes, cells, tissue and other biological products. It would also not stop scientists from seeking patents for the procedures or methods of creating a biological product. The patent office's director, James E. Rogan, in a letter last week to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), said his office viewed the Weldon amendment as "fully consistent with USPTO's policy on the non-patentability of human life-forms." He said the measure gave "unequivocal congressional backing" for a rule " refusing to grant any patent containing a claim that encompasses any member of the species Homo sapiens at any stage of development." Weldon said in a recent floor speech that his amendment would leave the patent office free to address new or borderline issues. As an example, he noted that the patent office does grant patents in cases where an animal has been modified to include a few human genes so it can produce a human protein or antibody. Michael J. Werner, chief of policy for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which had opposed the provision, said yesterday that he had not seen the final language of the bill but that, from what he had heard, it appeared to be compatible with the goals of the biotech industry. "Our companies are interested in being able to do stem cell research, regenerative medicine and the development of treatments for diseases -- not in getting patents on embryos," he said. Werner has noted that rather than being interested in product patents on embryos, the industry has an interest in obtaining process patents relating to stem cell therapies, which would be allowed under the measure's new language. The amendment is included in a package of unfinished spending bills that Congress is expected to approve and send to the president next week. Earlier this year, Weldon sponsored legislation that would impose a total ban on all human cloning. The bill passed the House but has stalled in the Senate. Washington Post staff writer Rick Weiss contributed to this report. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn