Twitter Roundup: FDA DTC Edition (and a new format)

Posted by and on March 25, 2011
   

Beginning this week, we are unveiling a new format for the Genomics Law Report’s regular Twitter Roundup. In addition to cataloging Dan’s @genomicslawyer tweets, we will also be offering short summaries of several key developments pulled from those tweets which, for one reason or another, did not find their way into a full-length post. Think of this as a combination between the always informative Friday Links posts at Genomes Unzipped and The Cross-Border Biotech Blog’s semi-regular feature “This Week in the Twitterverse,” which was the original inspiration for the GLR’s Twitter Roundup.

This is also a good time to introduce Genomics Law Report readers to Sharon Goswami, the Genomics Law Report’s new intern. Sharon is a 2L at New York University’s School of Law and and holds a degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University. At NYU, she is technology co-chair of the student intellectual property organization IPELS and an active student member of the William C. Conner IP Inn of Court.

This edition of the Twitter Roundup is divided into two sections.

The FDA Meets DTC. Again. Since this is the first Twitter Roundup since the FDA’s two-day public panel meeting on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing two weeks ago, we have collected all of the recent tweets on that topic in a separate section. We covered this topic in extensive detail (see posts here, here and here), but there have been plenty of others sharing their thoughts and opinions on the meeting, the FDA’s actions and the future direction of DTC genetic testing. You can find links to many of those below, as well as Dan’s live-tweeting of the meeting itself. You can also find additional coverage on Twitter under the hashtag #FDADTC and you can find all of the GLR’s DTC coverage here.

Also in the News: Public Genomics and Patent Reform. All other Tweets are collected below as usual. In addition, here are a few recent highlights our readers may have missed.

Genetic Data in the Public Domain: Genomes Unzipped Implements CC0. Raw genetic data from the Genomes Unzipped (GNZ) contributors (including Dan) are now officially available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain option. By placing data under CC0 the GNZ contributors have waived their copyright to their genetic information, permitting the use of those data without restriction or attribution. GNZ joins other efforts – including the Personal Genome Project (which also utilizes CC0), SNPedia and Sage Bionetworks – in seeking to broaden the availability of public genomic data.

GNZ data can be browsed using the group’s Genome Browser in a manner similar to the tools available through the International HapMap Project website – looking at particular sets of data that correspond to RefSeq materials. However, unlike the HapMap data, GNZ data comes from identified individuals who have chosen to share their genomic data with the public freely and without restriction.

Update on Patent Reform Legislation. Earlier this month, the Senate passed by a 95-5 vote the America Invents Act (S.23) or, as it is more commonly known, the Patent Reform Act of 2011 (pdf). Its passage, after six years of ongoing legislative debate, was hailed by many. President Barack Obama called it “the most significant patent reform in over half a century” and David Kappos, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), declared it “a win for all American innovators, of all sizes and industries.”

Among the legislation’s numerous reform proposals, the most controversial is a proposed change to a first-to-file system (from a first-to-invent system), which would award priority in most cases to the first inventor to file with the PTO. Supporters of the switch to first-to-file, including the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), argue that the change would bring the United States in line with international patent practice and that, on the whole, the reform would improve the U.S. patent system, spur innovation and create jobs.

Detractors, on the other hand, argue that the current first-to-invent system protects small inventors who lack the patent prosecution of large corporations. For example, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the nation’s largest trade group for early-stage investors, argued this week that the current version of the Patent Reform Act substantially disadvantages small start-up companies and could harm innovation and investment.

Over the past few weeks, as politicians, lobbyists and industry groups have lined up on both sides of the Patent Reform Act, the bill’s odds of becoming law have become far less clear than they initially appeared. With the reform act currently stalled in the House (another hearing is set for next week) it remains to be seen whether 2011 will be the year that patent reform legislation is finally passed and, if so, what portions of the Senate version will survive the legislative process intact.

Now, on to the Tweets:

Tweets from or about the FDA’s public meeting on clinical DTC genetic testing:

Regular tweets from the intersection of genomics, personalized medicine and the law:

Filed under: Direct-to-Consumer Services, General Interest, Genetic Testing/Screening, Genomic Policymaking, Genomics & Society, Legal & Regulatory, Patents & IP, Pending Regulation
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