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SUMMARY:The legal ecology of resistance\, or why normal IP rules shouldn't
  apply to antibiotics - Professor Kevin Outterson\, Boston University
DTSTART:20140424T170000Z
DTEND:20140424T180000Z
UID:TALK52210@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Anna Davies
DESCRIPTION:Pharmaceuticals is one of the sectors where patent law is thou
 ght to work best\, but for one major class of drugs – anti-infectives 
 – the weaknesses of the patent system are becoming increasingly clear.  
 Anti-infectives decline in effectiveness over time through resistance\, dr
 iven by evolution. Resistance challenges one foundation of patent theory\,
  namely nonrivalry of knowledge. Horizontal transfer of genetic material a
 lso undermines the economic value of patent boundaries in  antibiotic mole
 cules\, akin to a pollution externality. The result is a growing awareness
  that the current business model for antibiotics is broken and a search fo
 r new approaches.  This autumn\, the EU IMI will begin a major project to 
 understand the problem and potential solutions.
LOCATION:Faculty of Law\,  Room G24\, Sidgwick Site
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