Transcript Health Biotechnology in the MENA Region

IDRC Workshop-Cairo 9-2004
Health Biotechnology in the
MENA Region
.
Pr Dahmani M. Fathallah
Institut Pasteur de Tunis-Tunisia
IDRC Consultation on Biotech in MENA
 Overall Aim: Explore the links between
biotechnology development for future IDRC
programming
 Specific Aims :
-Identify the issues relevant to biotech development in
the region
-Identify and set up priority research questions around
these issues
-Identify active partners in these research domains
THE CONCEPT OF BIOTECH EVOLVED WITH
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
 bio : use of biological
processes)
 technology : to solve
problems or make
useful products
“using living organisms
or their products for
commercial purposes”
 Technology
 Product
 Economical
outcome
MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGIES & THE
DISCOVERY OF DNA
The commercial application of
living organisms or their
products, which involves the
deliberate manipulation of their
DNA molecules
The use of cellular and
biomolecular processes to solve
problems or make useful
products
INNOVATION (R&D)
NEW PRODUCT
BENEFITS
Current Concept of Biotech
 a collection of technologies that capitalize
on the attributes of cells, such as their
manufacturing capabilities, and put
biological molecules, such as DNA and
proteins at the level of marketable products
NOVEL BIOTECHNOLOGIES







Bioprocessing
Cellular Technology
Recombinant DNA Technology
Protein g Engineering
Biosensors
Nanobiotechnology
Microarrays
Applications & Health Care products




Diagnosis
Therapy
Vaccination
DNA testing
 Diagnostic kits
 Drugs & novel
therapies
 Vaccines
 DNA fingerprinting
Status of Health Biotechnologies
in MENA
 R &D
 Several efforts
throughout the region :
Some R&D but essentially
academic research
 Products
development
 Biotech industry
 No development of
local products yet
 Quasi absent
but efforts are being
made
Status of Health Biotechnologies in
MENA : Access to Biotech Products
for Health Care
 MENA = 350 millions of consumers
 Uneven access : Countries variation
 Variation between social groups within each
country : Poor & Rich
ISSUE OF EQUITABLE
ACCESS TO HEALTH
BIOTECH PRODUCTS
& SERVICES
Why do Biotech products are expensive?
In the Absence of a Local Biotech
Industry
 ISSUE OF SELF CONTAINMENT &
DEPENDANCY FOR STRATEGIC
PRODUCTS
 ISSUE OF BIOSAFETY OF BIOTECH
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
MENA Health Status
 Infectious diseases :
HIV : Low incidence
Tuberculosis : Low incidence (vaccination)
Polio & Measles : Eradicated or Eradication is
underway
Parasitic Diseases: Leishmania, Bilharzias:
Endemic , Health Problem
Rabies: Controlled through vaccination
Number of people affected by tuberculosis
Epidemiological Trends
 A shift in the epidemiological profile has
brought chronic diseases such as :
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Neurodegenerative disorders
- Genetically transmitted diseases
to the status of health concerns
Main Issues for Health Biotech
Development in MENA









KBE & National system of innovation
Policy and strategy planning
New Institutions and bodies
Regulatory framework
Financing of R &D (Innovation)
Human resources
Ethical & Societal issues
Local traditions and values
Public perception of Biotech
The Knowledge-Based Economy
(KBE), the National system of
innovation & Biotechnology
The Four components of
KBE :




An institutional regime
An educated and entrepreneurial population
A dynamique information infrastructure
An efficient system of innovation
System of Innovation





Implementation of R&D activities in health
biotech field in some MENA countries
Egypt : Bilharzia institute, several universities
Morocco : Institute Pasteur and universities
Jordan : Private sector (Hekma, Dar Eddawa, Arab Pharma company ….)
Algeria : Institute Pasteur and universities
Tunisia : Institute Pasteur , Institute de neurology, center biotechnology Sfax and
universities
Indicators of the Effectiveness of the
Innovation System in MENA
Number of Registered Patents :
 Algeria :(1966-1986) total number =7930
397per year but 97% held by foreign companies
 Egypt : 410 patents registered per year since 1951
with 43 from Egyptians (10.5%)
 Tunisia: 141 in 1995, 257 in 2000, 178 in 2001
 Morocco: 325 in 1996
Average of 2% in the health field: Poor yield and
overall weakness
Intellectual property protection
The Intellectual property rights index (IPRI)






Egypt : 5
Jordan : 4
Morocco: 4
Tunisia : 3
Algeria : 3
Lebanon: 2
IP rights and Institutions are underdeveloped within
the MENA region
Scientific publications in MENA
 Steady 10% annual rate increase in the last two decades
 Total number went up from 460 in 1967 to 7,000 in 1995
with one 1/3 approximately from the health field
 Ratio of publication to population :
– 20.4 for the Maghreb and 26 for the Arab world
– 42 in Brazil and 144 in South Korea
 Publications in international S&T journals
– 0.32% for MENA
– 0.96% for Latin America and 2.9%for Asia
Presence in scientific conferences
 [1990-1994] presence of scientists from the
MENA countries in international conferences
as reflected by the number of contributed
papers (1%) was very low.
 [1990-1994] The region hosted only 0.1% of
the world’s conferences
Policy and Strategy Planning
Successful policies have taken measures:





New institutions and bodies.
Regulatory frameworks.
Strategic planning & priorities setting.
Mobilization of human resources.
New incentives schemes
New institutions and bodies
 Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Jordan have
developed in the early nineties :
– Ministries or ministerial delegates
– R&D coordinating institutions
– New specialized institutions
Algeria : MDRST in 1998,CNRST, DRC,ANDRS, ANDS and ANDRU
Tunisia : SERST (1990), CMNT,DMT, INNORPI, INRST, API
Similar architecture in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan
Regulatory frameworks
In most of the MENA countries promulgation of sets of laws in favor of the
development of S&T with direct links to R&D:

[1] Law of orientation of scientific research and technological
development, decree n°94-536 of March 10, 1994 and decree n°96-6
of January, 1996 and decree n°99-11 of January 1999. Official Journal
of Tunisia
 [2]Loi n°98-11, d’orientation et de programme a projection
quinquennale sur la recherche scientifique et le développement
technologique : Algeria, 1998-2002
In Egypt and Morocco, strong patents, trademarks and copyright
protection legal system was set up to encourage innovation by
attracting foreign direct investment and joint venture.

Strategic planning and priorities setting:
 Technology development plans covering
periods of four to five years
 Past policies have been characterized by a
total lack of focus and absence of clear
perception of priority areas
Mobilization of human resources:
 Centers of excellence planned in several
MENA countries
– 10 in Morocco, 6 in Algeria and 5 in Tunisia,
with at least one specializing in life sciences
 Mobility of people from the public to the
private sector or vice versa
 Mobilize scientists from the diaspora
New incentives schemes
 Taxes exemptions, reduction of custom duties and
tax reduction for re-invested profits
 In Tunisia:
– A new law promulgated in the year 2000 gives the possibility and the priority for an
employee to valorize the invention themselves.
– PIRD [prime pour les investissements en R&D] which is a grant that can go up to 400k
USD to promote and encourage R&D in the private and public sectors
 Several MENA countries set up prizes and
awards
in Jordan, the El Hassan Bin Tallal award for scientific excellence, the Hisham Hijjawi
prize for applied Sciences, and the Abdul Hameed Shoman prize for young Arab
researchers.
– In Algeria, presidential prize for Arab medicine,
– In Egypt, the Academy of scientific research and technology gives several prizes and
awards
–
Financing the Innovation in
MENA
Country
Evolution of the average expenditure in R&D as a
% of GNP between 1994 and 2002
Mauritania
0.26-ND
Morocco
0.2 to 0.45
Algeria
0.3 to 0.70
Tunisia
0.3 to 0.82
Egypt
0.22 to 0.60
Jordan
0.28 to 0.64
Saudi Arabia
0.12 to ND
UAE
0.04 to ND
Kuwait
0.22 to 0.4
Qatar
0.06-ND
Oman
0.05 to ND
Bahrain
0.04 to ND
Japan
3.05 to 3.78
Germany
2.66 to 3.12
France
2.25 to 2.72
Human resources

Training of graduates with the belief that higher education level is central to
skills formation and creativity, both necessary ingredients for innovation.

Most of the countries in the region have been spending a high percentage of
their GNP in education.

Compared to Europe, the rate of graduates per thousand in MENA is half as
much, and yet the number of people involved in R&D is on average 10 to 20
times less than in Europe

Less than 400 engineers per million inhabitants are involved in R&D, while
Europe has 1750.

Vocational training has long been neglected in most MENA countries

Brain Drain but Also Brain Waste : 50% is the proportion of university
professors that have been permanently lost over the last two decades to the
brain drain or to obsolescence.

Brain Gain : NGO called Nosstia, attempts to bring Syrian innovators back to
Syria for short-term involvement.
Ethical and societal issues

MENA countries belong to the Islamic world.

The novel technologies are often considered with regard to Islamic beliefs

interpretation usually vary from religious subgroups to another.

Medical Privacy and Genetic Discrimination : Gene Therapy, Cloning, and
DNA testing

The Arabic language

Local traditions and values:
–
–
–
–
Oral culture
Patriarchal attitude
Rent seeking behavior
Mercantile attitude
Public Perception of Biotech
 The issue of general public awareness is
linked to the information and education
levels
 Genetic diseases and acceptance of DNA
testing
 Lack of a social debate about biotech in
MENA
MENA Foresight Experience in
Science and Technology
 Foresight allows us to think, debate and
shape the future in the complex context of
science, technology and society
interrelationships
 Foresight studies in MENA :
Tunisia : Institute of Strategic Studies 2003-2004 project Tunisia 2030
Egypt : “Healthy Egyptians for the horizon 2010” CDC’s national
center for health statistics program
Potential research questions that
need to be Addressed
 How to assess the shortfall of the policies followed by the
MENA countries to develop biotech?
 What are the real obstacles to the development of the
culture of innovation In MENA?
 What economical, political, social approach should MENA
adopt to reach equitable access to biotech products and
services throughout the region and within social groups in
a given country?
 What is the impact of local culture on the innovation
process?
Potential research questions that
need to be addressed (continued)
 How would the local culture be used to promote
innovation?
 How to improve the participation of human resources from
the diaspora in the biotech development effort?
 How to strengthen IP protection in the region?
 Define the needs for legislation to implement medical
privacy and prevent social discrimination?
 How to improve public awareness of the impact of biotech
on individuals and societies?
Suggested immediate actions to help
biotech development in the MENA region
 Extend to the rest of the MENA region, the
Tunisian experience of assessing the psychosocial perception of genetic diseases and evaluate
the success of prevention programs based on
DNA prenatal testing and preventive abortion.
 Contribute in capacity building in genetic
counseling, by developing channels and providing
tools [ grants and fellowships] through which a
number of genetic counselors can receive high
training
Suggested Immediate actions to help
biotech development in the MENA region
 Promoting information's on different aspects of
biotech to MENA general public and MENA
scientists :
– the general public, IDRC can contribute in providing specific
information on the real possibilities that biotech can offer in health
care as well as the issues that it raises
– For scientists, IDRC could facilitate the access to specialized
scientific literature, especially to relevant data banks via the WEB
 Building a WEB site on biotech resources in MENA
: Public institutions bodies, Private sector, human resources, universities, links etc
Potential Partners
 Different official institutions and body
throughout the region
 ALECSO, WHO, NGOs (Nosstia)
 Universities
 Biotech associations