tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000891.post3279738932931409119..comments2024-02-21T19:56:57.057-08:00Comments on California Stem Cell Report: Biotech Firms: The Undead of Capitalism?David Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077329461962729362noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000891.post-49601870407705743842009-11-19T11:56:51.024-08:002009-11-19T11:56:51.024-08:00Re Larry Ebert's comment about taxpayers servi...Re Larry Ebert's comment about taxpayers serving as venture capitalists, he makes a good point. While voters did approve Prop. 71, which effectively made them venture capitalists, that is not what they were thinking about when they voted for the measure five years. The campaign promised cures from human embryonic stem cells -- not adult stem cells -- and did not even mention a risky, $500 million loan program for the weakest biotech firms. And those are the ones specifically targeted by CIRM.David Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00077329461962729362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000891.post-44121811709156488922009-11-19T09:31:55.927-08:002009-11-19T09:31:55.927-08:00In terms of orthodoxy, I had commented earlier tha...In terms of orthodoxy, I had commented earlier that the academics reviewing CIRM proposals are predisposed to follow paths already charted in the literature and in the relationships known to them. Venture capitalists also follow rather orthodox game plans, although different ones from the academics.<br /><br />See for example<br /><br /><a href="http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2006/03/patents-are-not-why-we-are-investing.html" rel="nofollow"><br /><br /><a href="http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2006/04/vc-are-like-cloned-sheep-they-will.html" rel="nofollow"><br />"VC are like cloned sheep ... they will follow." </a><br />"Patents are not why we are investing" </a><br /><br />But, the real point is not about the WSJ talking about zombies. The bottom line is that California taxpayers should not be put in the position of being venture capitalists. <br /><br />http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/03/taxpayers-are-not-venture-capitalists.htmlLawrence B. Eberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05616776187293753324noreply@blogger.com