Good Day BIO: Ways & Means wants info on IP waiver – plus, the new podcast season launches today

The House Ways & Means Committee is marking up a resolution that asks questions about the Biden administration’s policy regarding the WTO TRIPS waiver, and we launch the new season of the I am BIO Podcast with a fascinating episode about data storage with synthetic DNA. (793 words, 3 minutes, 57 seconds)

Ways & Means wants more info on IP waiver

As concerns rise about a plan to expand WTO’s waiver of intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID technology, the House Ways and Means Committee today will mark up a proposal to demand more information from the Biden administration. 

ICYMI: WTO’s decision to waive IP protections for COVID vaccines in June did not address global vaccine distribution—which wasn’t an issue anymore at that point—but it did threaten drug development, Bio.News explains. A new proposal would expand the waiver to therapeutics. BIO opposes both waivers.

The latest: South Africa’s president lobbied Biden for the new waiver on Friday during a bilateral meeting in Washington, the White House reports.

We need answers: The U.S. supported the last TRIPS waiver—a misguided policy—and there’s a risk they would support another one. The proposed Resolution of Inquiry being marked up today by the House Ways & Means Committee demands documentation explaining U.S. policy.

The resolution text requests proof that:

• the first waiver improved the global delivery of COVID vaccines;
• the proposed waiver on therapeutics will improve the distribution of therapeutics; and,
• China, which is supposed to be excluded from the waivers, will not obtain access to U.S. IP through enacted or proposed waivers. 

The next steps: Sponsored by Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), the resolution is considered unlikely to pass committee for a full floor vote. Still, the Resolution of Inquiry—a House mechanism enabling any member to call for a vote seeking information from the executive branch—offers Republicans, as the minority party, opportunities to draw attention to the issue.

The bottom line: As BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath explains, global vaccine distribution, which biotech has assisted, is not helped by removing IP. “IP is an enabler of innovation and global scientific collaboration.” 

Learn more: watch the hearing and read more in Bio.News.

More Health Care News: 

Biopharma Dive: Bluebird wins FDA approval of gene therapy for rare brain disorder
“The therapy, called Skysona and cleared to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, is the product of more than a decade of work by Bluebird.”

Synthetic DNA could be the solution for data storage

A computer chip can hold a lot of information in a tiny space, but nature is far better at data storage: DNA fits the coding for an entire human being into a molecule. The new season of the I am BIO Podcast launches today with an episode exploring this topic.

“DNA is roughly a hundred thousand times more dense than the current media being used to store data,” Kyle Tomek, CEO of DNAli Data Technologies, tells BIO President and CEO Michelle McMurry-Heath in the episode. Tomek’s company uses synthetic DNA to develop incredibly efficient storage for data—from databases and emails, to our growing number of cat pictures.

Watch and learn:

Why it matters: Cloud storage, using data centers that devour energy and physical space, will soon be unable to hold the reams of data we produce daily. DNA could store the data from hundreds of Google Data Centers within a sugar cube, says Emily Leproust, CEO of BIO member Twist Bioscience. 

How it works: Unlike binary code based on zeroes and ones, DNA data is stored in base molecules represented by A, C, G, and T. Synthetic DNA could be physically stored in powder or glass, without electricity, and it would not contain the biological coding of life—meaning it couldn’t reproduce, podcast guests explained.

DNA is durable—we can retrieve DNA from dinosaurs. “Because DNA is the basis of all life, the technology to read and analyze DNA will never become obsolete,” says Dr. Michelle.

The science advances: As a specialist in writing DNA, Twist works in medicine, but also is developing data storage. The company is ready to launch its first such product, a century archive. Their next challenge is to make data more accessible through DNA and create standards so that all players in this field are speaking the same language. Twist helped start the DNA Storage Alliance, a group of companies working on this issue.

Listen: The new season of the I am BIO Podcast is available on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

More Agriculture & Environment News:

Reuters: Farm and food investors face $150 billion loss on climate change, report says
“The study, seen by Reuters News, found the companies’ value would decline by an average of around 7% by 2030, equivalent to some $150 billion in investor losses, if they did not adopt new practices. At the same time, business areas like plant-based meat and forest restoration offer the same companies big new opportunities.”

President Biden’s Tuesday: Speaking about the DISCLOSE Act, election legislation to be weighed by the Senate this week, before flying to New York for a DNC meeting, per The Washington Post.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Along with the House Ways & Means hearing on a Resolution of Inquiry into U.S. TRIPS waiver policy, Congress is also expected to discuss the Continuing Resolution, which must pass by Sept. 30 to keep the government open.