Biotech Firms Must Be Ready To Forego Royalties On Patented Genes: Expert

Biotech companies should be ready to forego royalties on their patented genes if they are used for breeding better varieties of crops in developing countries. Governments, on their part, must foster public-private partnerships for agricultural research to tackle the issue of food security, according to an expert.

Private sector biotechnology companies need to find the will and the way to reduce or forego royalties on their patented genes when these are needed to breed improved crops for use in developing countries, Dr Lloyd Evans, AO, honorary research fellow, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, said.

It is also important to address the problem of declining support in recent years for publicly-funded agricultural research both in and for developing countries, Evans said while delivering the first AIC-NCEAR Sir John Crawford lecture titled "Malthusian concerns and agricultural revolutions".

The development of partnerships between the public and private sectors, which recognise the expectations of both parties without distorting or restricting the role of the international centres, is the only solution to counter the decline in government funding for research, he said.