Archive by category | – Luiz Antonio Barreto deCastro

Brazil as host

Brazil as host

Biotechnology is growing in Brazil but has not reached the level of other countries. The biotech industry in the country is about the size of biotech in Georgia /USA. Part of the problem is that there is competition with other countries, particularly China. Part of the problem is the regulatory limitations in Brazil, particularly in the area of intellectual property rights (IPR). I see some signs, however, indicating that international companies, big and small, are interested in moving to Brazil. I got in touch with two of these companies — Amgen and Bio-Sourcing. Amgen is an old giant, and Bio-Sourcing  … Read more

The Patent System in Brazil

The Patent System in Brazil

During the ’60s, biology was not patentable. Genetic engineering started during the ’70s, but it was called recombinant DNA technology back then. Investments made in this area demanded a solution for intellectual property (IP) rights being applied to biology.  Read more

Brazil’s laws

Brazil's laws

Biotechnology development in Brazil is moving, but slowly, due to the lack of (1) investments from the private sector and (2) a clear and consistent exercise of the Brazilian patent law (9279/96). In this commentary we will deal with the first issue and in the next with the patent context.  Read more

No Genes, No Future

No Genes, No Future

The biotech industry relies strongly on genetic engineering, and on genes being characterized and properly expressed. This was clear to me more than three decades ago, after Herbert Boyer expressed in California the insulin gene in E. coli. I’m a member of the Brazilian Academy of Science, and since the ‘80s, I’ve stated that countries that do not identify genes will never build a competitive pharmaceutical industry, or agbusiness industry, or, more recently, biofuels industry. Well, Brazil does not have its genes, as they say. And its pharmaceutical industry has accumulated a US$7 billion debt, when comparing sales to importing.  Read more

Brazil Feeds the World

Brazil Feeds the World

Brazil produces almost 150 million tons of grain in 50 million hectares, and it multiplied grain production by four in the last four decades. It can double again that figure without destroying the Amazon or the Cerrado. Here’s how. This started in 1965, when Brazil established its first law to regulate the commercialization of seeds. When the Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA) was created in the mid seventies, Brazil started training plant cell, molecular, and developmental biologists. Then Sectoral Funds were created in the ’90s for areas such as biotechnology and agribusiness. Without those developments, the seed industry would  … Read more