The Medical Research Council, the U.K.'s equivalent to the U.S.National Institutes of Health, has reached an agreement with London-based SmithKline Beecham plc and The Institute for GenomicResearch (TIGR) for access to their proprietary gene sequence databases.

The agreement is part of an effort by SmithKline, TIGR, ofGaithersburg, Md., and Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville,Md., to open their gene sequence data bases to academic researchers.

TIGR, a non-profit group, and Human Genome Sciences have beensequencing human genes under a $125 million collaboration withSmithKline. Human Genome Sciences said it has 500,000 partialgene sequences _ representing as many as 70,000 to 90,000 genes_ in its data bases.

However, not all of that data will be accessible to the MRCresearchers and those at about 50 other institutions worldwide thathave entered similar agreements. Only about 150,000 genesequences, 30 percent of which are said to be proprietary and notcontained in existing public data bases, will be available to theacademic scientists. Those sequences are contained in separate databases managed by TIGR. The access agreement defines terms forlicensing patentable discoveries generated by the proprietary data.

SmithKline and TIGR apparently were eager to announce theagreement with the MRC, in part, because the respected U.K.research organization initially refused to work with the TIGR-HumanGenome Sciences data and told other institutions the reason why:because unreasonable restrictions on use of the information werebeing imposed by Human Genome Sciences.

David Owen, the MRC's director of industrial collaborations andlicensing, said Human Genome Sciences proposed terms ofconfidentiality that were so strict scientists working in the samelaboratory could not discuss their research if they were using theproprietary gene sequences from the company's data bases.

"We, in common with other institutions, didn't want to enter anagreement with Human Genome Sciences because the terms were tooone-sided," he said.

SmithKline, Human Genome Sciences and TIGR said Owen initiallymisinterpreted the access guidelines and subsequent negotiations withSmithKline alleviated his concerns.

Owen said SmithKline clarified the terms relating to patentablediscoveries from proprietary information and eased confidentialityconstraints.

The agreement reached by the MRC, like those with otherinstitutions, gives SmithKline first rights to negotiate for ownershipof patentable discoveries, but if the MRC doesn't like the terms, itcan negotiate with others.

Craig Venter, TIGR's director, said the data base sharing is still inthe test phase. Full access will follow publication in a scientificjournal of Venter's paper describing his gene sequencing research.The paper is expected to appear in about two months.

Owen said it remains to be seen how many MRC scientists use theTIGR data base. He said he knew five scientists who were eager toaccess it, but three of them later said they found what they needed inpublic data bases.

The global network of public data bases _ represented by GenBankof the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. _ got a boost thisyear when Merck & Co., of Whitehouse Station, N.J. and itscollaborator Washington University in St. Louis began sending ingene sequences unencumbered by any intellectual property rights.

Merck is feeding GenBank about 5,000 sequences a week and hasestimated it will generate 400,000 sequences over the next 18months.

Owen said the explosion of gene sequence information in the publicdomain likely will make gene sequencing companies reconsiderrestrictions on access to their data bases. n

-- Charles Craig

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.