EU To Redraft Biotech Patent Directive

The European Commission is to redraft the directive on biotechnology patents that was vetoed earlier this month by Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Marketletter March 13), on the grounds of lack of ethical safeguards.

Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann said a new effort had to be made, because the single internal market could not function with separate national rules in this area. He added that the Parliament had rejected what had been a compromise text, and this could backfire because the European Union Council would be reluctant to approve such drafts in future.

Health Action Plan Approved Meantime, a five-year health action plan, with earmarked funding support of 35 million Ecus ($45.4 million) was approved last week by the European parliament. This underpins an existing undertaking in the maastricht Treaty to shift the emphasis of EU health policy from curative medicine towards health promotion as a final step in the harmonizing of EU health policy.