Aktuelles

Direct move from biotech industry to the EU Commission

Former EuropaBio Communications manager now works as Media and Communications adviser for DG Environment

16 February 2023 / A communications officer previously employed by EuropaBio now acts as Media and Communications Adviser in the Cabinet of Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU Commissioner for Environment. Therefore, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Testbiotech, in a joint letter to the Commission, raise concerns about this new case of ‘revolving doors’ between biotech industry and EU institutions.

No patent on ‘Alzheimer Apes’

Partial success for Testbiotech

2 February 2023 / A patent covering genetically engineered ‘Alzheimer apes’ has been significantly restricted after Testbiotech filed an opposition. The ‘Alzheimer’ animals were meant for use in pharmaceutical research. Originally, the patent (EP3066203) granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2020, covered all rodents and non-human primates up to and including great apes, in which genetic engineering is used to induce certain symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The opposition division at the EPO has now restricted the patent to use on rats and mice.