Posted on 07/25/2006 9:45:10 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Biotech company executives in the Bay Area met Tuesday to begin working with California's sputtering stem-cell research institute, which was jump-started last week by the $150 million boost it got from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
``I feel we are at a very important point in history here,'' said Michael West, chairman and chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology of Alameda. He added that it was essential ``do do everything we possibly can to see that money is well spent.''
Still, the executives who met in San Francisco with officials at the stem-cell institute, created in 2004 when California voters passed Proposition 71, said uncertainty about how the institute will operate has them nervous about getting involved. ...
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For one thing, two lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the stem-cell institute have delayed the sale of state bonds needed to finance the institute's 10-year research program.
The $150 million loan Schwarzenegger authorized last week for the institute will deliver some stem-cell grants to researchers next year that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. But no one knows what will happen to the institute if the suits, which are on appeal, prevail in court.
The institute also is considering whether to require companies that develop commercial products from stem-cell grants to pay the state a share of the product's profits. Zach Hall, the institute's president, said it's not clear when the agency will decide how much, if anything, the companies will have to pay.
Even so, some executives said forcing them to share their profits with California may discourage them and other businesses from participating in the program. The sheer amount of basic and costly research that needs to be done also may hinder some companies from getting involved in the state's stem-cell effort, some said.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
It irritates me to no end that the NIH will give grants for research that can result in a huge level of profit and the recipients never have to repay a dime of it. We pay for the research, we pay for the results (if needed) and no one every questions it.
A bit disproportionate is this anger, isn't it?
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