Pathways Across the Valley of Death: Novel Intellectual Property Strategies for Accelerated Drug Discovery

Drug discovery is stagnating. Government agencies, industry analysts, and industry scientists have all noted that, despite significant increases in pharmaceutical R&D funding, the production of fundamentally new drugs - particularly drugs that work on new biological pathways and proteins - remains disappointingly low. To some extent, pharmaceutical firms are already embracing the prescription of new, more collaborative R&D organizational models suggested by industry analysts. In this Article, we build on collaborative strategies that firms are already employing by proposing a novel public-private collaboration that would help move upstream academic research across the valley of death that separates upstream research from downstream drug candidates. By exchanging trade secrecy for contract-based collaboration, our proposal would both protect intellectual property rights and enable many more researchers to search for potential drug candidates

A Contractually Reconstructed Research Commons for Scientific Data in a Highly Protectionist Intellectual Property Environment

This study is part of a larger project in which the Tsumeb municipality, Falun municipality and Falu Energi & Vatten AB work together to change the currently used controlled waste dumping site in Tsumeb into a sanitary landfill. This study aims to recommend a MSWM solution that will divert the organic waste from going to the landfill. The study consist out of a literature study in order to establish a theoretical background for the MSWM solution; a field study in which the current waste flows of Tsumeb were quantified, by using current data, and characterized, by performing a hand-picking analyses according to the UNEP methodology; and an analyses section in which an appropriate MWSM solution was proposed. The current waste consist out of 70% sand and stones, 17% grass and leaves, 6% prunings and trimmings, 4% sewage sludge, 3% branches and stumps, and 1% of other waste. This paper concludes that 99% of the organic waste in Tsumeb can be recycled, by using it as covering material, as biofuel and turning it into compost. This paper also shows that there is a potential for Tsumeb to start economically sound composting facility.

Biomechanical Characterization of the Periodontal Ligament: Orthodontic Tooth Movement

The biomechanical characteristics of the dental periodontal ligament (PDL) are currently not completely known. Methods: A Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA) that detects small forces at resolutions of 0.002 N was utilized to characterize stress-strain behavior of PDL specimens sectioned from mandibular bovine incisors. Uniaxial tension tests using different force levels of 0.5, 1, and 3 N were completed for 37 samples. Young's modulus (E) values calculated from experimental data were compared to see the effects of anatomic location and force levels. The Mooney-Rivlin Hyperelastic (MRH) model was constituted to analyze experimental data and used in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of orthodontic intrusion. Results: The modulus of PDL was approximately 66% greater at labio-lingual surfaces than at mesio-distal surfaces of roots. Force level was positively related to modulus. The MRH model well fit the non-linear stress-strain curve of PDL. MRH FEA predicted greater tipping effect and higher compressive stresses at the root apex of the intruded tooth than that computed from previous linear-elastic simulation. Conclusion: The PDL is well characterized by a hyperelastic constitutive equation independent of the applied force levels. The MRH model demonstrated a reasonable expected outcome of stress/strain patterns within the PDL and bone for intrusive mechanotherapy.Master of Scienc

U.S. National Committee for CODATA. Final technical report: September 15, 1996 to September 14, 2000

This report describes the activities of the U.S. National Committee (USNC) for CODATA from September 16, 1996, through September 14, 2000. The USNC/CODATA counsels the U.S. National Delegate to CODATA on the U.S. position regarding official CODATA business. It also provides a link between the United States and international data compilation and evaluation activities, taking into account the needs of the scientific and technological user community, and undertakes special studies and other actions consistent with the overall CODATA objectives

Pathways Across the Valley of Death: Novel Intellectual Property Strategies for Accelerated Drug Discovery

Most therapeutic interventions produced by pharmaceutical firms take the form of small molecule drugs, which are mass produced at low marginal cost and ingested orally. Drug therapies typically work by affecting the activity of human proteins, known in the industry as targets, that have been implicated in disease pathways. Thus far, medical science has identified safe and effective therapies for only a few hundred of the estimated 3000 protein targets in the human genome that are potentially susceptible to a drug. Moreover, pharmaceutical firms have encountered major obstacles in producing fundamentally new small molecule drugs, especially those that work against new targets. According to one report, an average of only three drugs that act on novel targets have reached the market annually in recent years. This highly visible problem has attracted commentary in scholarly articles, government white papers, and the popular press. Government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, and industry insiders, have also recognized that one of the most serious pitfalls involves the difficulty of moving across the so-called valley of death that separates upstream research on promising genes, proteins, and biological pathways from downstream drug candidates. For example, an upstream finding that a given protein is differentially expressed in individuals with a particular disease may suggest that the protein merits further investigation. However, much more work (especially medicinal chemistry) is necessary to determine how good a target the protein really is and whether a marketable drug candidate that affects the activity of the protein is likely to be developed

Toward Implementation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems Data Sharing Principles

This White Paper reviews the background issues for implementing the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles and recommends Implementation Guidelines to ensure the strongest possible framework for data sharing, consistent with both the spirit and the “letter” of the Principles. As recognized by the 10-Year Implementation Plan, “ensuring that such information is available to those who need it is a function of governments and institutions at all levels.” It is therefore incumbent on governments and institutions participating in GEOSS to continue to develop and implement appropriate policies and procedures that enable and support the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles in fair and effective ways. The implementation approaches discussed here are intended to facilitate this process

Database Protection at the Crossroads: Recent Development and Their Impact on Science and Technology

This article explores the potentially adverse impact that the emerging legal infrastructure could have on scientific, technical, and educational users of factual data and information-as well as on other sectors of the information economy-unless suitable adjustments are made. It begins by explaining how efforts to accommodate the networked environment to the publishers\u27 fears of market failure will impose a daunting array of legal and contractual restraints on the ability of scientists and engineers to access factual data and information in the near future. It then goes on to examine the most recent efforts to devise a sui generis intellectual property right in noncopyrightable collections of data that would suitably balance public and private interests. It also emphasizes the need to reconcile legal protection of databases with fundamental constitutional mandates concerning free speech and the progress of science. The article concludes with a warning that overly protective initiatives could compromise the research-based institutions that currently ensure the technological predominance of U.S. industry in the global marketplac

Ab-initio Molecular Dynamics study of electronic and optical properties of silicon quantum wires: Orientational Effects

We analyze the influence of spatial orientation on the optical response of hydrogenated silicon quantum wires. The results are relevant for the interpretation of the optical properties of light emitting porous silicon. We study (111)-oriented wires and compare the present results with those previously obtained within the same theoretical framework for (001)-oriented wires [F. Buda {\it et al.}, {\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 69}, 1272, (1992)]. In analogy with the (001)-oriented wires and at variance with crystalline bulk silicon, we find that the (111)-oriented wires exhibit a direct gap at ${\bf k}=0$ whose value is largely enhanced with respect to that found in bulk silicon because of quantum confinement effects. The imaginary part of the dielectric function, for the external field polarized in the direction of the axis of the wires, shows features that, while being qualitatively similar to those observed for the (001) wires, are not present in the bulk. The main conclusion which emerges from the present study is that, if wires a few nanometers large are present in the porous material, they are optically active independently of their specific orientation.Comment: 14 pages (plus 6 figures), Revte

Research e-infrastructures for open science: The national example of CSTCloud in China

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on research e-infrastructures in the open science era. We analyze some of the challenges and opportunities of cloud-based science and introduce an example of a national solution in the China Science and Technology Cloud (CSTCloud). We selected three CSTCloud use cases in deploying open science modules, including scalable engineering in astronomical data management, integrated Earth-science resources for SDG-13 decision making, and the coupling of citizen science and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in biodiversity. We conclude with a forecast on the future development of research e-infrastructures and introduce the idea of the Global Open Science Cloud (GOSC). We hope this analysis can provide some insights into the future development of research e-infrastructures in support of open science