From Taxol to Taxol®: The Changing Identities and Ownership of an Anti-cancer Drug
Titel:
From Taxol to Taxol®: The Changing Identities and Ownership of an Anti-cancer Drug
Auteur:
Walsh, Vivien Goodman, Jordan
Verschenen in:
Medical anthropology
Paginering:
Jaargang 21 (2002) nr. 3-4 pagina's 307-336
Jaar:
2002-07-01
Inhoud:
This paper analyzes the emergence and evolution of taxol, the world's best-selling anti-cancer drug. Over the years taxol has changed its identity, its status as property, and its association with different places (from the old-growth forests of Washington State to the government agencies of Washington, D.C., tolaboratories in France). Taxol is not only a profitable pharmaceutical commodity and a substance injected into women with breast and/or ovarian cancer; it is also a natural product found in the bark of Taxus brevifolia (the Pacific yew, which is native to the North American Pacific Northwest) and a chemical substance that was discovered and brought to the point of commercial production in the public sector. We explore its role in several controversies: the destruction of old-growth forests, public participation in policy making, and the privatization of intellectual property and its effect on the price of drugs.
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