WHO BENEFITS ?

Without the significant EU investment behind a major project such as GIANT, it is unlikely that such a significant trial could be built, with all its potential benefits of producing effective new medicines, says Professor Maitland. But he also emphasises that such a project does not represent public funding for the pharmaceutical industry, since the intellectual property rights (IPR) for all patented results will be owned by participating small medium enterprise (SME) and academic institutions. Indeed, some of the SMEs participating already own patents on retargeting vectors and target discovery methods.

As a result, one of the outputs of the GIANT project should be to select candidates for testing in Phase I clinical studies, using a clinically approved vector based on adenoviral constructs. While thorough testing means these therapies are still not close to market, the GIANT project aims to build a critical mass of expertise to accelerate innovation in this area.

Further information on EU funded research in genomics and biotechnology for health can be found at:
http:/cordis.europa.eu.int/fp6/lifescihealth.htm