The California stem cell agency is going to give folks a glimpse later this month at its initial thinking concerning the division of spoils from inventions that come about from its grants to commercial firms.
But we already have a suggestion from one interested party that the state's share be modest. Fred Middleton, managing director of a biomedical venture capital firm in San Mateo, Ca., Sanderling Ventures, suggested minimal royalties – something in the 3 percent to 8 percent range. Ten percent would be too high, he said.
He also said the state should not expect a short-term payback on its investment.
Not that any of this is likely to have a great impact in the near future. CIRM has not yet funded a single grant. And it could be some time before it starts considering grants to businesses. However, it would behoove any commercial California stem cell enterprise to weigh in early as the ground rules are being formulated.
Middleton made his comments at a stem cell conference in San Francisco earlier this week.
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