gradalis playing hardball or business as usual, page-29

"Moral Obligation/Responsibility does rest with the owners of the Patent to allow it be used in the search for cures to any disease, virus, sickness etc"

Aussie Eagle, IMO, it has nothing to do with moral obligation/responsibility. BigPharma are the antithesis of this and go out of their way to protect their profits over human lives all the time. This is business and at the end of the day it is about money. Do you think that BLT shareholders will let Gradalis attempt to commercialise without recognising BLT's part in it, thereby holding up the process? Likewise, do you think that Gradalis' scientists and investors will simply pay BLT royalties on sales, because it is the right thing to do, if they believe that their technology is novel?

Researchers operating without a licence has been made possible by the Supreme Court passing a law allowing them to use anyone's patented technology so long as it is in pursuit of an eventual FDA drug application. Who knows what this will mean at the end of the day, as the parameters are yet to be tested. I would assume that they would protect the inventors interest or they risk future biotech investment and R&D, and prevent patents being applied for by inventors who prefer to keep their knowledge to themselves. This would be the direct opposite of what the Courts were trying to achieve by passing this law in the first place.

Gradalis can lodge all the patent applications they like, it won't prevent them having to pay BLT their dues eventually if indeed they have used BLT's tech to simply create a slightly different version. The reason BLT have called their technology dna directed RNAi (ddRNAi) is because they know that shRNA is not the only method. bi-shRNA is simply another method and still covered under BLT's core patent.

None of this means that Gradalis don't intend on eventually taking a licence. I bet that Calimmune's and Genable's patents don't reference Graham either.

But with everyone getting their knickers in a twist over this, Gradalis just might let shareholders sell the company into oblivion on pure specualation, and buy it up for next to nothing. There could be many reasons why they are yet to take a licence. Maybe they are conserving cash; maybe Phase II isn't going so well; maybe they simply prefer to wait until they are sure the drug will be successful; maybe they are thinking about merging with BLT. Who knows, but I think we are all getting a little to focused on one external program.