ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the major categories of biotechnological product and provides an overview of the different actors involved. It describes the cost and time involved in a typical product discovery and development process for an enzyme, and summarises the kind of regulatory hurdles which a new biotechnology must clear in order to be placed on the market. The chapter analyses the demand by scientists from the private and public sectors for access to genetic resources to develop new biotechnologies. It explores practice in benefit-sharing in biotechnology, and looks at monetary and non-monetary benefits that arise from the use of genetic resources in biotechnology. Biotechnology companies are largely involved in the development of ‘products’ or ‘processes’. There are ‘solution providers’ in both the public and the private sectors. In 1997, there were roughly 300 biotechnology companies in Europe, and an equivalent number in the USA providing solutions in sectors other than healthcare and agriculture, including industry suppliers, environmental and energy companies.
