The buzz about pharmacogenetics
While it had appeared that the new buzzword in biotech was pharmacogenomics, some contracts contain an older word, pharmacogenetics, which appears to mean the same thing. When either word appears in contracts, one might expect the meaning to be reduced to a sharper focus.
The recent agreement between Sequana Therapeutics Inc. (La Jolla, Calif.) and Parke-Davis specified that SQNA retains rights to pharmacogenetic applications of the technology (see BioCentury Extra, Nov. 4). Under their contract, pharmacogenetic applications fall under the companies' broader definition of diagnostic products. A diagnostic product is "a diagnostic, prognostic or pharmacogenetic product," which can include "a device, compound, kit or service identified through the research program."...