MEDICAL-RESEARCH AND GENETIC-RESOURCES MANAGEMENT - THE CASE OF TAXOL

Commercial development of the anti-cancer drug taxol has involved a co mplex set of interlocking research agreements. This paper explores the implications of such agreements and discusses diverse policy issues s urrounding taxol development. Among these are forest management, speci es preservation, intellectual property rights, and the economics of bi omedical research. Advances in genetic research increasingly have link ed natural resource and technology policy issues. Institutional innova tions in public/private research arrangements play a vital role in bio technology development but are poorly understood. Policymakers need fo rmal analyses of such agreements in order to evaluate complex research programs.