European court clears way for stem-cell patents

Miodrag Stojkovic/SPL

Some types of human embryonic stem cells can now be patented in Europe.

Europes highest court has ruled that human embryonic stem cells made from unfertilized eggs can be patented on the basis that they lack the potential to turn into a human being.

The cells in question are created through a process called parthenogenesis, after the Greek words for virgin and birth. In some animals, parthenogenesis is a means of asexual reproduction but human cells created in this way are not capable of properly developing.

The ruling, issued on 18 December by the European Court of Justice, backtracks on the court's more general, 2011 ban on obtaining patents for human embryonic stem cells (ESCs).

The ban had come in response to a patent sought by stem-cell scientist Oliver Brstle of the University of Bonn, Germany, for neurons made from ESCs. As well as banning patents that involve the destruction of cells capable of forming human embryos, the court specifically forbade patents on ESCs made from 'parthenote' eggs, stating that they are capable of commencing the process of development which leads to a human being.

But many scientists denounced the decision, arguing that it would slow the development of cell-based therapies. We have known for a very long time that parthenogenetic (or parthenote) embryos are not capable of developing very far after implantation, says Robin Lovell-Badge, a stem-cell scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research in London.

International Stem Cell Corporation, a biotechnology company in Carlsbad, California, challenged the judgement after a UK application it made for two patents was rejected. The patents covered methods to generate corneal tissue from ESCs that had been made from egg cells, or ova, via parthenogenesis.

In its 18 December ruling, the court said: "The mere fact that a parthenogenetically-activated human ovum commences a process of development is not sufficient for it to be regarded as a human embryo." It is now up to UK courts to decide whether the cells generated by International Stem Cell Corporation qualify for patent protection.

Julian Hitchcock, a biotechnology lawyer at Lawford Davies Denoon in London, says that the courts decision raises questions about the advice that underpinned the 2011 findings. The ruling could spur further challenges to the patent ban, he adds.

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European court clears way for stem-cell patents