jraaaiEŒiraBraK INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
MONSANTO SETTLES PATENT DISPUTE Firm will pay University of California $100 million to license milk hormone MILK ANYONE? Monsanto pays to settle dispute with the University of California over a bovine hormone.
J
UST AS MONSANTO AND THE
University of California were set to meet in court on Feb. 27, Monsanto released a state ment saying the trial is off and that it will pay $100 million to license the univer sity's patent for re combinant bovine somatotropin (BST). An agreement be tween Monsanto and the regents of the Univer sity of California grants the firm an exclusive commercial license to the genetically engi neered hormone, which increas
OCCUPATIONAL
es a cow's milk production by 8 to 12 lb per day It also dismisses the school's claims, filed against Mon santo in 2004. Three scientists from UC San Francisco first isolated the DNA to make BST in 1979, but because of delays in the patent process, the school did not receive a pat ent on the DNA until 2004, a university spokesman says. The scientists—Walter L. Miller, Jo seph A. Martial, and John D. Baxter—published their first pa per on the hormone technology in 1980. The university expects to receive a second patent for
SAFETY
CURBING EXPOSURE TO A CARCINOGEN TESTING Marion Armstrong, president of Armstrong Forensic Laboratory, demonstrates how to measure hexavalent chromium.
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OSHA lowers allowable level of hexavalent chromium in workplaces
F
EDERAL REGULATORS LAST
week ratcheted down the allowable amount of on-thejob exposure workers can receive from carcinogenic hexavalent chromium and com pounds contain ing this form of the metal. The new stan dard is 5 μg/m3 ofairand"isthe lowest level that is technologically and economically feasible" for busi nesses to meet, the Occupation
C & E N / MARCH 6, 2006
al Safety & Health Administra tion said in announcing the rule on Feb. 28. OSHA was under a federal court order to issue the standard. More than half-a-million U.S. workers are exposed to Cr6+ and substances containing it, accord ing to OSHA. These substances are used in the chemical industry as ingredients in pigments and in catalysts for chemical synthesis. They are also widely used in metal plating and can be released during the welding of stainless steel. The old standard, 52 μg/m3 of air, was recommended in 1943 by the American National Standards
the BST protein later this year. A Monsanto spokesman says the firm licensed technology from Genentech, developed its own pat ents for BST, and then introduced BST to farmers in 1994. Only since UC obtained its patent have the school's claims become a material matter. The settlement avoids "the expense and inconvenience ofpro tracted litigation," the firm says. In addition to the $100 mil lion payment, Monsanto agreed to pay the university a royalty of 15 cents per dose of BST sold to dairy producers. The firm said it would make minimum annual payments of $5 million through the 2023 expiration of the univer sity's patents. BST has been controversial since its introduction. Some con sumer groups worry that the hor mone could affect human health. Monsanto has fought dairy pro cessors' efforts to label their milk as free of the hormone.—MARC REISCH
Institute to prevent perforations caused by chromium in workers' nasal cavities. When OSHA was formed in 1971, the agency adopted this limit. Many in industry see the new standard as too tough to meet cost-effectively. Meanwhile, ad vocates for workers believe that it is not protective enough and will lead to extra deathsfromlung can cer. Public Citizen says it will sue OSHA to tighten the exposure limit further. OSHA unveiled the new expo sure limit just days after a report in the journal Environmental Health charged the chromium industry with withholding information about the health risks of workers exposed to Cr6+. Researchers at George Washington University and Public Citizen unearthed data from an industry-sponsored study that they say could have swayed OSHA to set a limit lower than 5 μg/nl3. The chromium industry denies any wrongdoing.—CHERYL H0GUE
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