Bioethical concerns in Japanese biotechnology companies
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Keywords: bioethics, business ethics, biotechnology, education, ethics committees
Makina Kato, PhD Department of Biostudies and Society, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606–8501, Japan Tel: +81 75 753 9244 Fax: +81 75 753 9245 E-mail: [email protected]
Bioethical concerns in Japanese biotechnology companies Makina Kato and Darryl Macer Date received (in revised form): 16th March, 2006
Abstract Analysis of responses from a 2003 survey of 304 Japanese biotechnology companies found that 93 per cent responded that they had never had a bioethical problem related to biotechnology in their company but 31 per cent did expect to have some kind of problem in the future while 26 per cent already had systems in place to deal with these issues. The open responses to all these questions are presented and discussed. Specific issues raised by the companies concerned problems related to dealing with human samples, clinical trials, animal experiments and public reaction to their research/business. Concerns about future problems relating to intellectual property rights (IPRs) were not raised by any of the companies. A number of different systems were in place to deal with bioethical issues although some companies said they did not need any specific system to deal with any problems which might arise.
INTRODUCTION Although new biotechnology applications can prove a great boon to society, a variety of bioethical issues have been raised as there is often an underlying feeling, particularly among consumers, that profits come before ethics in the companies that are developing and selling these applications. There have been a number of surveys in a range of countries which have shown that consumers do not trust product safety information when it comes from the company making or selling the product.1,2 It is therefore of interest to examine how aware companies are of possible bioethical issues and what actions they have taken, if any, to deal with these issues. This paper details the results of a survey, conducted in 2003, of Japanese companies that were in some way related to the biotechnology industry and follows on from a similar international study.3
SAMPLING OF ‘COMPANIES RELATED TO BIOTECHNOLOGY’ For the purpose of this study, ‘the companies related to biotechnology’ were
defined broadly as companies that operated business activities in connection with biotechnology either directly or indirectly but did not include companies that only invest money in biotechnology, financial institutions, publishing companies or clinical research organisations (CROs). Companies were initially identified from the ‘Nikkei Bio Yearbook 2003’,4 from member lists of industrial organisations and by searching the internet, while surveys and market research reports were also consulted to include venture companies. After excluding the companies that did not fall into our broad definition, the list comprised 1,556 companies. Of the companies which could be contacted by telephone, 769 consented to rece
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