ETHICS OF COLLABORATION - Collaborative Computational Technologies for Biomedical Research - page 129

8.4.4 Property

The question of property concerns ownership of the information and what
constitutes fair exchange [15]. Collaborative research agreements should spell
out who owns the research data and whether it may be used for any other
purposes. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was sued about its patent claim on a drug
(see following case) because it received some federal funding [18]. Large
pharmaceutical companies are partnering with various external organizations,
including academic institutions, which can lead to confusion regarding owner-
ship rights [19]. Traditionally, pharmaceutical companies have contracted with
individuals to perform specifi c tasks and retained ownership since these were
works for hire [19]. Now teams of academic researchers are working with
teams of company employees, and issues of ownership are unclear.

8.4.4.1 Case Study: GlaxoSmithKline and AZT Intellectual Property
Rights This case illustrates two possible issues related to collaborative phar-
maceutical research: (1) ownership of intellectual property rights and (2)
jurisdictional issues of international research efforts.
GlaxoSmithKline owns the intellectual property rights to azidothymidine
(AZT). AZT was developed to help treat the symptoms of HIV/AIDS. It has
been effective in increasing the life expectancy of infected persons and is often
prescribed as part of a “drug cocktail.” GSK owns the rights to use AZT as an
anti-HIV treatment and also has a process patent protecting the technique by
which AZT is produced [18].
In 1994, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation argued that GSK scientists were
not the sole inventors of the drug. Some arguments against GSK's ownership
contended that GSK should not have exclusive rights over AZT because the
drug was developed with the help of government-funded research [18]. The
U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that GSK employees were the sole inventors of
the drug and the government had no right to share in the credit for developing
the drug [18].
The same issue was also heard by the Supreme Court in Canada. The
Canadian court reached the same conclusion as the U.S. courts. However, the
fact that GSK had to defend its rights in multiple countries demonstrates
the problems of international pharmaceutical research. What if the ruling had
been different in another jurisdiction?

8.5 CONCLUSIONS

Sustainable collaborations, where power and authority are shared, require
virtuous character traits among the participants in the collaboration. The indi-
viduals should be other regarding as well as self-regarding, empathetic,
and committed to the collaboration as well as the goal or goals of the collabo-
ration. Essential ingredients of a sustainable collaboration include effective