CIRM and Its Embarrassing Secrecy

The California stem cell agency rather foolishly conceals the identity of applicants for its multibillion dollar grant program, contending that unsuccessful scientists and their employers would be embarrassed if the public were to know that they failed to receive funds.

We say foolish because CIRM's rules are a nonsensical exercise as well as poor policy(see the "more disclosure" item below). The institutions themselves are free to release the information that they have applied, and they do. The most recent example is USC. Last fall, UC Irvine did so.

One can only speculate about why the schools release the information, although the process of applying for grants in other areas is often very much a public process. Some cynics have surmised that the release of the information by the schools could be an attempt to serve notice on CIRM and its Oversight Committee that these mighty institutions should not be overlooked when the checks are handed out. Both USC and UC Irvine have representatives on the Oversight Committee, which makes the final decision on who shares in the largess, although those committee members are barred from voting on their own school's grant applications. Of course, more benign reasons exist for universities to tell the public they are seeking grants. But CIRM's secrecy only fuels the fire of conspiracy theories.

USC's item said the school submitted 29 applications for the round of applications reviewed last fall and for the round being reviewed this week.

"'The competition for this funding will be tough, but USC scientists have put together some very exciting proposals,'" said Martin Pera, director of USC's Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (CSCRM) and a professor of cell and neurobiology."

The item continued:

"Pera said that researchers from CSCRM and its Stem Cell Core Laboratory 'were pleased to lend our expertise in support of these grant efforts in this first round of CIRM grants.'

"The exercise 'brought together many groups throughout USC, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the California Institute of Technology for the first time,' he added. 'As a consequence, a number of new interdisciplinary collaborations have emerged with the potential to develop into world class research programs in stem cell biology and therapeutics.'"

Given the dearth of ESC research funding, any California institution making an effort in the area can be expected to seek grants. Likewise, institutions with stem cell aspirations. But their names and the names of the scientists as well as the general nature of the application should be part of the public record.

Why CIRM persists in concealing the identities of applicants is hard to understand. If it truly wanted to maintain secrecy, it could disqualify an institution whose application became public knowledge, for whatever reason. Then nobody would be embarrassed.

CIRM's Lansing to Receive Oscar

Former Hollywood film executive Sherry Lansing will receive an Oscar this year for, among other things, her role at the California stem cell agency.

Lansing sits on the Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a position she has held since the agency's inception.

Last summer, she was cited specifically by California stem cell Chairman Robert Klein for making a "critical call" to Arnold Schwarzenegger to nail down the $150 million loan to CIRM that is allowing it pump out the cash this year.

Lansing is engaged in several other endeavors that were cited in the announcement that she will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards in February. She serves on the board of Stop Cancer and the American Red Cross' Advisory Committee. She is also a regent of the University of California and a trustee of the Carter Center human-rights organization

Comments Sought by Your Mexico Correspondent

Mazatlan is nicely warm this time of year, much more pleasant than cold, cold California was during the holidays. And that's where the California Stem Cell Report is currently moored – Mazatlan, the Pearl of the Pacific.

We have stripped off our jackets and shoes, replacing them with shorts and sandals.

We are ensconced in Marina Mazatlan, which has clean showers and wireless Internet access from the boat. However, like stem cell research, the full potential of the wireless access is yet to be realized.

The link to the Internet has been sporadic. As best as we can determine, the DSL line provided by TelMex, one of the most egregious monopolies in Mexico, needs some sort of new electronic card. It has been ordered from Hermosillo, we are told. When reliable service will return is yet to be determined.

Meantime, we will schlep our hefty laptop in its hefty black Pelican case to the nearest Internet cafe (access cost 90 cents or so American an hour) via bus (40 to 80 cents American one-way). In Mexico, buses are often more convenient and faster than taxis. Both can be quite exciting. Oddly, the bus costs more than a three-mile bus ride in Santa Monica to the CIRM meeting at UCLA last October. That was only 25 cents, an extraordinarily low fare.

We also are working on improvements and changes in this website. Please let us know if there are features or information that you would like to see added. And please let us know about matters that you are not fond of. Send your comments directly to djensen@californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com and or just post them as a comment on this item. You can post your comment – anonymously if so desired – by clicking on the word "comment" below.

More Disclosure in Billion Dollar Giveaway Is In CIRM's Best Interest

California's $3 billion stem cell giveaway program began another important step today – one that is cloaked in nearly total secrecy despite the fact that it involves public funds.

Scientists in San Francisco are reviewing applications for $80 million in major grants. CIRM says their actions are only recommendations. However, the reality is that they are defacto decisions that are unlikely to be overturned by the agency's Oversight Committee.

A certain amount of confidentiality is to be expected, but the agency has gone overboard to protect the tender sensitivities of those seek the funds. It is a practice that will serve the agency poorly should questions arise – as they are certain to do over the next decade – about the propriety of its grant-making process.

We have written repeatedly about failings in transparency and disclosure at the agency. It is also a topic of concern to a number of newspapers and watchdog groups. John M. Simpson, stem cell project director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, Ca., authored an op-ed piece that appeared today in the Oakland Tribune and other California newspapers.

He wrote:

"Everyone concerned claims they want a transparent process to ensure that awards are based on scientific merit, not favoritism and cronyism. Despite mouthing high-minded slogans, the institute's leaders too frequently miss the mark whenever there is a clear opportunity to build faith in its processes by being completely open.

"In California we don't know who applied for the grants or their affiliations. Our stem cell institute need only look to Connecticut where applicants' names and pertinent details are public record for a model of how to conduct the public's business.

"Fortunately at least one California scientist understands the importance of a completely transparent process when dealing with public funds. Connecticut's stem cell peer review committee — the equivalent of California's grants working group — is chaired by Dr. Leslie P. Weiner, professor of neurology at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.

"The California stem cell institute won't identify the 70 researchers from 23 unidentified institutions vying for 25 grants under the Comprehensive Research Grants program.

"In my personal life, I don't give money to people unless I know who they are, why they want it and what they plan to do with it. It shouldn't be any different with the taxpayers' $3 billion. Another opportunity for transparency and to build public faith in the institute's procedures is being squandered."

So wrote Mr. Simpson, who has followed CIRM's activities for more than a year and is a supporter of ESC research.

As for us at the California Stem Cell Report, if we were one of the scientists making decisions on the grants, we would want to have the maximum amount of openness, including disclosure of the financial interests of our fellow reviewers. Without transparency, it is all too easy for enemies of embryonic stem cell research to impugn the integrity of reviewers and to insuinate – as they most certainly will do -- that something other than good science is playing a role in handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in California taxpayer funds.

Embryonic stem cell research generates more than enough controversy. It is past time for the California stem cell agency to take steps to protect itself and its grant reviewers -- all of whom come the tiny circle of stem cell scientists around the world -- from the inevitable charges of self-dealing, cronyism and favoritism.

The California Poster Child, Stem Cell Wars and Proverbial Church Picnics

Are states running amok with embryonic stem cell research? Should or can the federal government reassert its control? Can workable compromises be found?

Richard Hayes, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, Ca., addresses these issues in a piece on Bioethics Forum, which is sponsored by the Hastings Center Report.

Hayes writes about the "sorry" state of the stem cell debate:

"This polarized politics has given us the worst of all possible worlds: a policy stalemate at the federal level accompanied by a plethora of state-level stem cell funding programs lacking the sort of planning, ethical oversight, and regulation that biomedical research of such consequence requires. California's $3 billion stem cell program is the poster child of this predicament. Since its inception in 2004 it has been under fire for conflicts of interest, inadequate concern for the health and safety of women who provide eggs for stem cell research, unrepresentative policy-making bodies, and misplaced research priorities.

"These flawed state programs are setting the stage for even greater problems to come. Technologies now under development, including pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for both medical conditions and cosmetic traits, somatic genetic enhancement, and inheritable genetic modification, promise to make the stem cell wars look like the proverbial church picnic.

"If these technologies are embraced by the largely unaccountable infrastructure now being established to support stem cell research, they will be difficult to constrain. Once developed and made commercially available, they would be used disproportionately by the most privileged, and become new and powerful drivers of inequality and exclusion.

"The tragedy of this situation is that public opinion surveys consistently show that a strong majority of Americans support a morally serious middle ground regarding the new human genetic technologies. Americans are not irrevocably opposed to research involving the destruction of human embryos, but they want to make sure it is done only after alternatives have been exhausted, and with effective structures of public oversight in place. Americans want cures for diseases, but few are willing to turn the genetic future of the human species over to dismissively arrogant scientists and profit-hungry biotech boosters. Unfortunately, no organized constituencies with influence comparable to that of the religious conservatives or the research/patient/bioindustrial community exist to represent this majoritarian position in the political arena."

Hayes finds some hope in the approach detailed in "Beyond Bioethics: A Proposal for Modernizing the Regulation of Human Biotechnologies," by Francis Fukuyama and Franco Furger. Hayes said the book "could serve as a rallying point for those desiring an end to the current counterproductive policy stalemate."

Hayes called the book "the most comprehensive analysis of human biotech regulatory policy yet published in the United States. With the 2008 congressional and presidential campaigns now moving into high gear, the report comes at an opportune time. "Beyond Bioethics" should be studied carefully by everyone interested in working towards human biotech policies that can be supported by the great majority of Americans."

Gov. Arnie on Stem Cell Research

Former thespian Arnold Schwarzenegger was inaugurated today as governor of California. He had an enthusiastic but overstated line in his inaugural address about stem cell research. Here it is:

"Because we were leaders in stem cell research, California’s bio-tech industry has boomed, offering new cures for spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases."

His speech is available live today beginning at 11 a.m. PST. (7 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time)

Stem Cell Market Fever: A Cooler Perspective

Are stem cell stocks really rising because of Democratic control of the House of Representatives? Probably not.

Are markets truly rational? Are stock analysts always well-informed? Probably not.

The questions come up because of a few articles concerning the sharp run-up in the price of some stem cell companies, including those based in California, in the last two days. The Associated Press (in the San Jose Mercury News and elsewhere) attributed the increase to the improved prospects of House passage of a measure aimed at encouraging federal embryonic stem cell research.

These daily trading stories are usually ripped off by relatively inexperienced reporters who grab the quickest and catchiest explanations for price rises. Some of those come from analysts who may not be well-informed and who do not understand that a presidential veto is likely again on the stem cell bill – a veto that probably will not be overridden. Even if it is, the National Institutes of Health are already hard-pressed financially and are not likely to come up with major increases in ESC reasearch funding, certainly nothing on the level of California's $3 billion giveaway. Beyond that, the markets have already factored in Democratic control of Congress, which is months-old news.

A more likely cause of the upsurge in stem cell stocks is the wave that boosted biotech stocks generally because of good news about Amgen, among other things. Here is what the Wall Street Journal had to say this morning:

"Amgen, (Nasdaq) the second-largest U.S. biotech company by market value, behind Genentech, gained 2.93, or 4.3%, to 71.33. Bear Stearns upgraded Amgen's shares to 'outperform,' saying the stock already reflects potential impacts from Roche's prospective introduction of a competitive anemia drug. If Roche's drug doesn't reach the market, the upside for Amgen's stock could be 'dramatic,' Bear Stearns said."

Stem cell stocks are thinly traded but may be carried along in a burst of buying in the biotech sector. Traders sometimes spread their bets across a sector.

Also not mentioned in the stories is the impact of automated trading programs that trigger purchases as an entire sector moves, in other words, a computerized bandwagon, which may or may not be rational depending on your point of view.

Stem Cell Argonauts To Convene in San Francisco

Since all of you out there are looking at your schedule for the coming spring, be sure to reserve a spot for The Stem Cell Meeting in San Francisco.

Produced by Burrill & Company, the two-day session promises a host of provocative discussions and a broad range of international speakers. Topics range from “Stem Cell Argonauts: Brain Circulation in a Global Economy” to
“The Un-United States: Cell Lines, Border Lines, and the Law.”

According to the preliminary agenda for the March 12-13 event, the keynote speaker will be Ian "Dolly" Wilmut of the University of Edinburgh, whose topic is “Continental Drift: Where Will Stem Cells Take Us?”

So far no speakers from CIRM are on the agenda, but are likely to be there. No speakers from WARF are listed at this point. Beth Donley, then WARF general counsel, served notice at last year's session that CIRM would have to pony up fees to Wisconsin for use of WARF ESC patents.

We caught two days of last year's session. Hundreds of others attended. It was definitely worth taking in.

Early reservations (before Jan. 26) mean a $500 cut in the $1495 registration fee. The conference also offers an academic, government and nonprofit rate of $495. If you want to get more bang for your buck, double up with the CIRM Oversight Committee meeting on March 15 and 16 in Los Angeles. That session is free.

Correction

The item below once carried a reference to an article on biotech investing from the New York Times. The article was actually from 2005 not 2006. We have removed the reference.

Stem Cell Snippets: Advocacy, Public Support and Weissman

ESC Gospel – What is going on with Robert Klein's Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures? One current activity is recruitment of more missionaries to spread the ESC gospel. The group has about 150 speakers across the country. It is looking for 1,000. You can read more about the effort on stemcellbattles.com, the blog of stem cell advocate Don Reed. Klein, as most of you recall, is also chairman of the California stem cell agency in addition to presiding over the lobbying group.

Stem Cell Investing – The tough business of biotech investing was discussed in a piece by Andy Pollack of the New York Times. An excerpt: "The difficulty of taking companies public, especially at values they find attractive, has become a lament of biotech venture capitalists, and it is forcing changes in their strategies. Instead of a way to cash out, the initial offering is now a chance to keep a company going until, hopefully, the venture investors can sell their stock later."

Squishy Public Support -- Jesse Reynolds of the Center for Genetics and Society discusses the nature of public support for ESC research and the most recent public opinion polls. Supporters of ESC research find constant hope in the polls. On the basis of decades of watching polls on politics as well as other subjects, the California Stem Cell Report believes that embryonic stem cell research is poorly understood by most Americans and is still a new subject to most persons. That means potentially mercurial support that can be easily undermined by changing events or skillful marketing.

Weissman – Stem "cellist" Irv Weissman speaks on "What Stem Cells Mean to Science, Medicine and California" Jan. 9 at a meeting of Silicom (cq) Ventures in Mountain View. Weissman is director of the Institute for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology at Stanford and helped found three stem cell companies (Cellerant, SyStemix and Stem Cells, Inc.). Tickets are $150 for nonmembers of the venture capital group.

Holiday Hiatus

The Christmas elves carried off your humble correspondent. But take heart. Postings will resume shortly.

San Jose Merc: 'It's Working.'

The California stem cell agency is continuing to bask in the light of several recent pieces in the mainstream media that portray CIRM in a generally favorable light.

The most recent came as an editorial today in the San Jose Mercury News, which said:

"Two years into the great California stem-cell adventure, here's everything curious taxpayers need to know about their $3 billion investment:

"It's working.

"Prominent researchers continue to flock to California. Confidence in the endeavor is so high that grants and gifts from private sources to California researchers have totaled more than $200 million so far. The feeble lawsuit challenging the program's legality should be history before June. And regulations are in place to govern the state agency in charge of distributing the $3 billion in grants, the first of which should be awarded in a matter of weeks.

"Given the nature of scientific research, it will take well over a decade to fully evaluate the state's stem-cell experiment. But it's already clear that, thanks to California voters, the United States is poised to become a world leader in one of the most promising areas of medical research today. That was not the case before Proposition 71 was passed in November 2004."

One CIRM staffer, who pointed with some pride to the editorial, noted that the agency's situation is a far cry from last year at this time. And he is right.

But the editorial also noted that the agency should revisit its "policy on transparency to shore up public trust. At a minimum, members of its working groups evaluating grant applications should be required to publicly disclose any conflicts of interests."

The Private Touch in ESC Research

The Washington Post today caught up with some of the doings at the California stem cell agency, reporting that private, "almost unprecedented contributions" have saved the day at CIRM.

The story by Sonya Geis said the loans have also helped fuel other giving for embryonic stem cell research in California, echoing a point made in the San Diego Union-Tribune series, "The Stem Cell Wars."

"Private money is also building new stem cell labs on university campuses across the state. Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad gave $25 million to the University of Southern California for a stem cell institute, sound-technology pioneer Ray Dolby gave $16 million to the University of California at San Francisco, and local donors are contributing to a $75 million expansion at the University of California at Davis.

"'I was amazed by the number of wealthy Californians who have stepped up and decided to support a public agency,' said Owen Witte, director of the new Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles. 'I've never heard of anything like this.'"

Geis erred on one point, however. She said "affluent Californians gave $31 million" to CIRM. The money was actually loaned to the agency and is to be repaid with interest. However, if CIRM loses the lawsuit against it, the lenders will not be repaid.

The Stem Cell Race: How California is Like the Cobbler's Children...Sort Of

California's stem cell effort, still yet to dispense a single research dollar, has served as lever globally to boost funding for the field in locations ranging from New Jersey to Australia.

That's one of the conclusions of the third article in a three-part series in the San Diego Union-Tribune called "The Stem Cell Race."

Written by reporter Terri Somers, the piece examines California's $3 billion effort, which has been hampered by a legal tussle over its legitimacy. Somers wrote:

"While San Diego's large stem cell research community has been waiting to tap the state funding, the Harvard University area – supported largely by philanthropists – has become the U.S. science cluster best known internationally for embryonic stem cell research.

"Also pushing ahead have been the governments of Singapore, China, Japan and several European nations, which have supported their embryonic stem cell scientists with money and favorable policies.

"'Proposition 71 is supposed to help the economy by creating jobs first, then new tools and treatments, but until it really gets moving it's just an old Jag in the garage," said Tom Okarma, chief executive of Geron, a Menlo Park stem cell research company."

Somers continued:

"New York Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer plans to push a $1 billion 10-year stem cell initiative that mirror's California's. On Friday, New Jersey's legislature approved borrowing $270 million to fund stem cell research. And Connecticut has floated a $100 million 10-year initiative. Part of the states' impetus was the fear of losing top researchers to California and abroad."

The San Diego article also reported:

"Scientists and government officials from 15 nations have visited the stem cell institute over the past year, said Zach Hall, the institute's president. Delegations from India, Israel, the United Kingdom and China were eager to forge relationships and take home ideas and the possibility of collaborations."

Nonetheless, Somers reported that 30 "notable" scientists have come to California in the last two years because of the state effort. An informational graphic with the story showed that private and federal funds totalling $234 million have poured into the state, boosting research efforts. And she noted that CIRM now has $181 million in hand, ready to dispense on research.

"'With these loans California's funding is now six times the nation's funding through the (National Institutes of Health) and California is squarely in the global leadership of this breakthrough field of medical research,' said Robert Klein, chairman of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine."

Correction

A Nov. 21 item, "Nearly Awash," contained incorrect figures on some of the individual purchases of CIRM bond anticipation notes. Those figures have been corrected in that item. CIRM has also corrected the figures on its website.

The Stem Cell Race: Singapore's $370 Million Biopolis

In Singapore, embryonic stem cell research is spelled Biopolis. It is a simple way of saying, We focus intensely on people and laboratories, fast action and strong collaboration.

On Monday, reporter Terri Somers of the San Diego Union-Tribune examined Singapore's embryonic stem cell effort in the second of her three-part series, "The Stem Cell Race."

Here is how Somers described the life of one scientist at Biopolis:

"When she needs a new supply of embryonic stem cells, she phones in an order and walks across the campus of the science center her government has built to pick them up. Although her work is highly regulated, authorities have made obtaining human embryonic stem cells only slightly more difficult than snagging a box of pens from a supply cabinet."

Life seems good in the $370-million, 2.4 million-square-foot biotech research hub. Somers wrote:

"On what used to be grassland, a seven-building cluster of modern, glass-walled structures sprouted in 18 months. Enclosed glass walkways shelter workers from the unrelenting heat and downpours of the tropics, giving the complex the look of giant Habitrail for humans.

"Two more buildings opened in November, creating more space for the nine research institutes and consortiums that fill Biopolis, along with several research and development outposts of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

"There's a storage facility for tens of thousands of mice for use in experiments, a tissue bank and a bioprocessing facility that is making the culture medium in which stem cells will be grown. Eventually it will produce millions of stem cells.

"The government accommodates the workers' long hours with a child-care center, supermarket, hair salon, dry cleaners, bars and even a 7-Eleven convenience store.

"On a typical workday, members of this multinational scientific community can be seen outside enjoying the cooling mist of a fountain, the shade of lush foliage or the convenience of a cafe, as they share ideas over lunch or lattes. They seem oblivious to the Miami-in-August temperatures and humidity."

The Singapore effort has paid off by attracting a host of first-rate scientists as well. Somers reviews the cast that now stars in the Biopolis "theater," ranging from UC San Diego's former medical school dean, Edward Holmes, and his wife, Judith Swain, a cellular cardiologist, to Neal Copeland and Nancy Jenkins, top ESC researchers from the NIH.

Somers' article also indirectly emphasized how tiny and interconnected the ESC research world is. For example, Singapore's efforts are hooked into the California stem cell agency. Somers reported,

"The advisory board to Singapore's Biomedical Research Council reads like a who's who of medical research, including David Baltimore of Caltech and La Jolla-based scientists John Reed of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, Sydney Brenner of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Richard Lerner of The Scripps Research Institute."

Both Reed and Baltimore also serve as directors of CIRM.

Somers' second piece on Tuesday also reinforced the "small world" portrait of ESC research. She profiled Philip Yeo, chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*Star, the long title of the man who is the mastermind of Biopolis. Somers wrote:

"Yeo called his friend Stuart Weissman, a pioneer in embryonic stem cell research at Stanford, seeking advice on what type of work could be done at Biopolis that would complement efforts in the United States.

"Yeo (then) set about trying to lure – he would say borrow – top researchers to Singapore. Governments jilted by researchers who have found his offers too good to refuse refer to him as a 'serial kidnapper.'"

On Tuesday, Somers will examine California's $3 billion stem cell research effort.

The Stem Cell Race: Underdogs, Singapore's Biopolis, China and the UK

The San Diego Union-Tribune Sunday began a three-part series on embryonic stem cell research globally, reporting that the United States is "getting a taste of being the underdog."

Reporter Terri Somers, who has followed the industry and the California stem cell agency from San Diego's biotech hotbed, also wrote a Sunday piece looking that the business side of the research.

Both Sunday articles are as comprehensive on their subjects as one is likely to see in the mainstream media. Included is a downloadable world map with country-by-country snapshots.

Here are some excerpts from the front page series called "The Stem Cell Race:"

"'For the first time, we have a lot of competition ... . I don't think we've had as much concern for another country besting us in science since the race to the moon,' said Dr. Evan Snyder, who runs the embryonic stem cell research program at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla.

"It is a competition with crucial consequences for San Diego County and California, home to leading stem cell researchers and 50 percent of the world's biotechnology research."

Somers continued:

"China reportedly is doubling its investment in stem cell research. But an air of mystery and skepticism surrounds China's work, because the country's regulatory guidelines differ from those in the West and because research from Chinese scientists has not been widely published.

"The United Kingdom already has invested about $198 million in stem cell research at 90 laboratories, of which 11 are licensed to conduct human embryonic stem cell research.

"Singapore, with just 4 million citizens, is investing $25 million to $29 million annually in research, excluding overhead costs and infrastructure.

"That investment may seem wimpy compared with the $609 million the United States government spent on stem cell research last year. But because of federal funding restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research, only $20 million to $40 million a year – about 6 percent at best – has been directed to that field.

"Money is not the sole catalyst of success. Scientists say supportive government policies that free them to concentrate on their work, national commitment and contagious scientific enthusiasm are just as important.

"'Here we are again, sitting on the beginning of another revolution, a possible way to provide cures rather than treatments," said Chris Mason, a stem cell researcher at University College London. 'The U.K., Singapore and other countries realize what might be within their grasp if they spend the money on the front end, and they don't want to miss it.'

"The United States, long the world leader in biomedical research and commercialization, is getting a taste of being the underdog."

Somers' piece on the business of stem cells said:

"Worldwide, only about a dozen companies are building a business based on human embryonic stem cells, and only three of those are publicly traded: Geron in Menlo Park, Advanced Cell Technology in Alameda and Stem Cell Sciences in Edinburgh, Scotland.

"Executives at several of the companies say the key to tapping funds at such an early stage is either finding someone with deep pockets and a personal passion for curing disease or possessing a unique technology to address a potentially huge market.

"Given the current business climate and the political and moral debate surrounding human embryonic stem cells in the United States, people in the business don't expect more competition to pop up soon."

On Monday, Somers will look at Singapore and its "Biopolis."

'Fair Cures,' Lab Construction and CIRM

The Greenlining Institute, a longtime activist community group in California, has come up with a series of recommendations on stem cell research in California, including suggestions that biotech companies receiving state grants set goals for directing some of the money to minority and women-owned businesses.

The proposals stem from a Greenlining conference earlier this year on stem cell issues. They have been compiled in a report, called "Fair Cures," prepared by Joe Araya Tayag, health program manager for Greenlining. The group has been around for decades and has litigated and agitated successfully on a wide range of issues involving minorities. The organization's name stems from its position opposed to the practice of redlining.

Currently CIRM is preparing a proposal to fund $47.5 million million in lab facilities. The grants are expected to be awarded in June. The agency has generally indicated support for diversity efforts, but it is not clear how that might be reflected in its grants for labs.

Here are excerpts from Greenlining report. It can be found on the website from the conference, which includes video of the presentations:

"...(R)esearchers and firms that obtain patents on health care technology, such as stem cell advancements, have virtually no incentive or authorization to ensure fair access to innovations in medical treatment. Without an adjustment in patent law, the cost of patent licenses in the stem cell industry will impact costs of any potential products. Because researchers have to recoup the costs of licenses, prices are driven up, with the greatest burden ultimately falling on disadvantaged communities of color. The CIRM currently includes provisions for affordability in their intellectual property policies that may be used as models for future state-funded research programs."

"Conference participants also voiced their concerns over how the tens of thousands of employment opportunities to be created with the state’s investment into stem cell research will be distributed fairly among all Californians. These jobs take the form of research positions, CIRM career staff, and supplier contracts. In his presentation, Joe Tayag from the Greenlining Institute showed that there were over 60 different types of supplier services used by a large biotech company. These jobs range from advertising, to catering, to furniture manufacturing. Audience members such as Ernie Baker from the Covenant on Health in San Francisco stressed that these jobs may empower economically underserved communities if employment rates reflect the diversity of the state. Conference participants agreed that these jobs need to be recognized as essential to stem cell research and should be accounted for in any discussion of the fair implementation of stem cell research."

CIRM Scholar Produces Mouse Brain Finding

There it was – in the 4th paragraph of the press release – a CIRM scholar produces a newsworthy finding as the result of "some of the first research funded by the California stem cell agency," according to one reporter.

Rebecca Vesely of the Contra Costa Times highlighted the CIRM connection in her story about the research at UC San Francisco that suggests "stem cells in the brain have a surprising capacity to repair damaged tissue." She said that researchers indicated that "the findings could help in the quest for treatments of brain trauma such as stroke."

Chay Kuo, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, led the study. The press release from UC San Francisco said:

"Kuo is one of 16 UCSF CIRM Stem Cell Scholars – up and coming young scientists funded by the California Institute for Regeneration (sic) Medicine, established by California voters in 2004 to allocate $3 billion over 10 years to support stem cell research."

Vesely noted that funding also came from the National Institutes of Health. She also wrote:

"Kuo said he received a $45,000 stipend, plus funds for medical benefits and a $10,000 allowance for research costs.

"'It allows trainees independence,' he said. 'It's given me incredible freedom to do my research.'"

Obviously the research is of considerable interest, but what adds to it is the CIRM-funding connection. One of the abiding concerns at the agency is producing results that fulfill the promise of Prop. 71. This is the first such event the agency can point to, albeit only as a modest funding effort.

Kuo's research, to be published in Cell magazine, also received news coverage internationally, but there was little mention of the CIRM connection. Other California newspapers also do not seem to have picked up on the CIRM relationship. The agency itself has not posted anything on Kuo at the time of this writing.

Major News Series on Stem Cells Coming Up in San Diego

A three-day series dubbed the "Stem Cell Race" begins Sunday in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Written by Terri Somers, the lengthy effort will cover the issue from Singapore to California.

Sunday will examine which country is leading the stem cell race. Monday will attempt to answer the question: "Why is Singapore spending millions in research?" And Tuesday addresses the issue of whether California can lead the U.S. in stem cell research.

Somers has closely followed stem cell issues and the California stem cell agency, and has written more on the subject in the last year than any other reporter in the state.