The seminar "Innovation, Law, and Health: Future Challenges" was held on June 7, 2024, organized by the Institute of Legal Research of UNAM. At the event, our partner José Meythaler emphasized the importance of innovation in the health field and the need to protect intellectual property (IP) to foster the development of new technologies.
Other speakers included María de Jesús Medina and Guillermo E. Estrada Adán. The session was broadcast live on the IIJ UNAM YouTube channel..
Intervention by our Partner, Dr. José Meythaler
"One of the things that must progress along with science is the discourse and ethical approach to production. We have seen that science and pharmaceutical products evolve, but the discourse we use has not yet evolved.
For the past 30 years, I have heard a discourse of complaint about the evolutionary advancement of science, and I believe that one of the important things we need to do today is to also achieve the evolution of our concepts.
Access to medicines is not restricted by patents; access to medicines is restricted by the lack of sufficient knowledge and understanding of how to use the mechanism of innovation and development production.
Peter Watson says: 'While we are busy discussing ethical, legal, and political issues, there are countless scientific actors who generate science day by day. And we are getting further away from them, and we notice that the evolution has gigantic dimensions, but the distance is growing.'
Today, I believe the great challenge for our society is to adapt and acclimate to this permanent evolution in biotechnology research and development. Understand that it is not exclusively an ethical, legal, or political issue and that we need to revolutionize our discourse so that we can seek collaboration and scientific access.
When one speaks exclusively of ethics, one must also measure the ethics that govern scientific research. Research and development require ethics. When a gigantic investment is frustrated as a result of a research failure, it takes a lot of ethics to throw away hundreds of millions of dollars that have led to nothing. It also takes a lot of ethics to care for the patients who lend their human contingent for research and development.
Ethics is not just a commercial matter; ethics must be a phenomenon that encompasses the entire process of researching and developing a molecule. We, as actors in this phenomenon of science and product creation, must revolutionize our discourse and perceptions.
For 30 years, I have been hearing the same discourse, but in the meantime, hundreds of thousands of molecules, treatments, and therapeutic alternatives have been created. It is time to change and understand what is happening with those countries and actors, investors, scientists, doctors, and politicians who are betting on science and technology...
This seminar highlights the vital interconnection between innovation, law, and health, and our partner José Meythaler focuses on how proper intellectual property protection can catalyze the development of new and better medical technologies. Interested parties can access the full event video on the IIJ UNAM YouTube channel for more information and to delve deeper into the topics discussed.
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