Why the regulation of gene

editing will not hurt small and

medium size companies (SMEs)
Michael Antoniou, PhD
King’s College London
Claire Robinson, MPhil
Editor, GMWatch.org

Brussels, February 2020

https://www.gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/19239
 The push for de-regulation
• Proponents of new genetic modification techniques
such as gene editing are trying to weaken or abolish
the EU's GMO regulations to allow easier market
access for gene-edited crops and foods.
• They say de-regulation will open the market to small
and medium size enterprises (SMEs), which will
democratise GM and end the monopolistic
domination of big agrochemical companies like
Monsanto/Bayer.

• This is highly doubtful because ...

 Most startups fail –
and not because of regulation
• Only 10% of all startups succeed (Forbes, 2015)
• Biotech startups have it harder – even smaller
percentage succeed
• Why? According to article on biotech industry
platform Labiotech.eu (2020), reasons are:
Flawed financial strategy (failure to attract right
investment)
Inexperienced management
Mediocre science
“Excessive regulation” doesn’t come into it
 Gene-edited crops won’t be easier to
generate or cheaper to market
• With first-generation GM crops, the cost of bringing a
GM trait to market between 2008 and 2012 was
US$136 million.
• Only 25% of that cost went to meeting regulatory
requirements – the rest was research and
development costs.
• Gene editing won’t change that because the
generation of candidate edited plants will take a
similar input of resources and time.
• Additional costs are massive licensing and royalty fees
paid to the CRISPR base patent holders – Dr Antoniou
will talk about this.
 Gene editing won’t change the biotech
business model
• Dr Antoniou has years of experience of
developing biotech products in medical research
with SMEs and larger companies, and holds
inventor status on patents.
• Same gene-editing technology used in medical
applications is also used in plant/livestock
animal applications.
• He will explain why gene editing won’t change
the biotech business model.
Who controls CRISPR in agbiotech?
• According to Testbiotech, agribiz giant DowDupont
controls large parts of the seed market through a
patent cartel on CRISPR gene-editing technology.
• DowDupont (with its agribiotech sector Corteva) has
allegedly signed contracts with all the important
owners of base patents on CRISPR/Cas technology.
• DowDuPont has combined 48 patents on the most
basic tools in one patent pool. According to
DowDupont, access to such a high number of patents
is necessary in order to apply the technology in plant
breeding to its full extent.
 The path to success:
partnership or takeover
Petoseed
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(1994)
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Full Ownership
Phil Howard, Associate Professor, Michigan State University
Size proportional to global seed market share https://philhoward.net Partial Ownership