Half-Million Salary for Klein?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Back in the early days of the California stem cell research effort, its newly elected chairman – millionaire real estate investment banker Robert Klein -- said he would not accept a salary for his work.

Now that is changing. He could be drawing a salary as high as $508,750, perhaps as early as this year. But the money may not come from state coffers.

The question of salaries for both the chairman of CIRM and the vice chairman came up during Thursday's hearing on the agency's budget for 2008-09.

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for the Consumer Watchdog group of Santa Monica, Ca., asked whether the budget included salaries for the chairman and the vice chair.

The answer was no. But Klein, who has held his post since December 2005, said, "It's true at some point this issue needs to be addressed."

He said that personally he would like to see "non-taxpayer dollars" used for salaries for the chairman and vice chairman rather than using funds that could be used for research. He indicated that he would not be averse to raising private funds for salary purposes.

The vice chairman of CIRM is Ed Penhoet, also a multimillionaire. He does not accept a salary. We are querying him on his position on salaries.

Coming Up

Directors of the California stem cell agency later today will consider state legislation affecting CIRM. We will have a report on that meeting late this afternoon Pacific Daylight Time.

$13 Million Approved for CIRM Operations

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Finance Subcommittee of the California stem cell agency Thursday approved a 46 percent increase in its 2008-09 budget, which will total $13 million and push staffing close to the legal limit of 50.

The panel of CIRM directors made no changes in the budget that was presented by CIRM staff. Their questions largely centered on clarifying line items in the budget.

CIRM Chairman Robert Klein and director Jeff Sheehy both defended an increase in travel that seems to be up at least 287 percent from the current year, for a total of $558,000. However, that figure is for "other travel." Travel expenditures are also lodged in other budget areas, but were not broken out for Thursday's meeting.

Citing this week's agreements with Canada and the Australian state of Victoria, Klein said more collaboration is expected internationally. He indicated that travel is expected to both Great Britain and Washington, D.C. -- this to deal with federal stem cell legislation and regulation.

Klein said the agency "really needs to have our science teams to have access to leading-edge research." He said meetings with other scientists help CIRM prepare grant proposals that effectively target the most promising areas of research. Sheehy said that while some persons tend to regard travel as something of a boondoggle, "The conferences are very important. This is really work."

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for the Consumer Watchdog group of Santa Monica, Ca., praised the budget generally but said more detail was needed for it to be fully understood.

The budget is well within Prop. 71 limits, according to CIRM, based on average allowable allocations. Those allocations showed that CIRM will be spending $1.8 million next year on legal expenses, up from $1.2 million this year. That includes its own legal staff and outside legal contracts.

The budget goes to the full board of directors next week, where it is expected to be approved.

We have asked CIRM to provide a breakdown of travel expenses in all categories and a breakdown on external contracts. We will carry that information when we receive it. We also asked Klein to clarify the organizational changes noted in the budget. He said he would get back to us on the language in the spending plan.

Differences in Old, New Versions of Budget Appear Minor

A quick, line-by-line examination of the old and new proposed budgets for CIRM for 2008-09 (see item below) shows only tiny differences in the two documents.

We could be wrong, but none of the major figures appears changed. In fact, the only change we could detect is under the "accomplishments" section.

The old document (posted a couple of days ago) said CIRM "awarded" $167 million in facilities grants to eight institutions. The new document says CIRM "awarded" $195.8 million in grants to eight institutions.

All of which raises a probably picayune question concerning the figures. Why are they different from those announced in May when a CIRM press release said its directors "voted to distribute" $271 million to 12 institutions. Our assumption is that the figures in the budget document actually represent checks going out to the institutions, and that four still have not been actually funded. But we could be wrong, and we have asked CIRM about the numbers.

CIRM Changes Budget Plan for This Afternoon's Meeting

The California stem cell agency has posted a revised operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The spending plan will be discussed at its directors' Finance Subcommittee meeting this afternoon along with CIRM's proposed $500 million biotech loan program.

The new budget document does not show what changes have been made from the one posted earlier this week nor does it indicate that it has been changed. The agenda as well does not indicate the presence of a revised document. No reason was given for posting the revisions.

Also added for today's meeting are additional teleconference locations where the public can listen to the discussion and comment as well. Those locations include: La Jolla, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Pleasanton, Berkeley, Irvine, Carlsbad and Palo Alto.

No background documents have yet been posted on the biotech bank proposal for today's meeting which begins 5 ½ hours from now at 3:30 p.m. PDT.

Deep Yogurt, Biotech and the Anguish of Big Pharma

SAN DIEGO -- Biotech investment guru Steve Burrill Wednesday took hundreds of BIO attendees on a warp speed overview of the state of the industry now and in 2020.

His flight was fast and furious, and he may have caught some sign of skepticism in the crowd. Undeterred he told them he may be off on the timing of his predictions, but they were coming -- probably sooner rather than later.

Some of his observations may have been unsettling to some. Babies will have chips inserted into them at birth to track their health. Walmart will be the model for the delivery of health care. Healthcare seekers will wear T-shirts embedded with technology that will touch their heart, among other things. Self-care will be the order of the day.

Say goodbye to those blockbuster, high-margin drugs. Hello to even more generics. Consumers will drive the market. Big Pharma, already suffering the anguish of expiring patents, will suffer more. Can you spell patent devaluation, he basically asked his audience. The biopharmaceutical industry will have to be re-invented. He said:

"Our friends in Pharma are in deep yogurt."

Research and development will migrate overseas. Pricing will be set on a global basis. Burrill declared,

"Every company is global from Day One."

The average age of death, now about 80, will climb to 100. No longer will health care providers wait for the disease and then try to ambush it with low chances of success. Instead, providers and consumers will be out front, moving to prevent those nasty germs and tumors from even getting a start.

As for financing biotech business, things will pick up later this year. And in 2009, industry will start to roll. "It will be a very good year, a year from now," he said.

Burrill's comments were based on one of his firm's latest studies: "Biotech 2008: a 20/20 Vision to 2020." The report can be purchased online for $295, or $430 if you want bound copy.

Not Coming Up

We are going to hold Steve Burrill's comments today on the future of biotech for later dissemination. It seems there is a surfeit of stem cell news.

CIRM Legislation on Affordable Access Moves Forward

Legislation aimed at ensuring affordable access to California-financed stem cell therapies easily cleared the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday and is headed for a hearing next week in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Meanwhile the California stem cell agency has posted its own analysis of the bill, SB 1565 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, and Sen. George Runner, R-Antelope Valley, setting the stage for CIRM directors to take a position on the proposal.

The vote Tuesday on the bill was 16-0. No lawmaker has voted against the bill as it has moved through the Senate and now in the Assembly. If it clears the next committee, it will go to the Assembly floor, but it will have to return to the Senate for concurrence in Assembly amendments.

The CIRM analysis of the measure did not make a recommendation on approval or support. But it said, among other things,

"SB 1565 appears to tie the price for any and all commercialized products to the lowest pricing based on the current benchmarks of the CalRx program in effect at this time. Any change to that price over time, given any new circumstances, need for flexibility in order to leverage commercialization on products for “orphan diseases” or even for time itself would require a change in statute with more than 70 percent vote of both houses of the Legislature as well as approval by the governor. Any change would further be delayed by a minimum of one year in order to enact authorizing statute."

The analysis also took note of another change in the bill since it cleared the Senate. That amendment would delete a Prop. 71 provision that requires a two-thirds vote of the CIRM grants working group to fund research that does not involve pluripotent or progenitor cells. The Prop. 71 provision is aimed at giving a priority to hESC research.

The bill has also been altered to request, instead of mandate, a study of CIRM by an independent commission with an eye to preparing recommendations for changes in its structure, including its built-in conflicts of interest on its board of directors (ICOC).

According to the Assembly staff analysis of the legislation, its authors believe that "given the ICOC/CIRM's unique formation as a public entity, the public's investment of $3 billion in bond funds, and the close-knit nature of the scientific community, the ICOC and CIRM warrant a high level of scrutiny by an independent body...to ensure public trust and confidence and protect the integrity of the ICOC and CIRM from real or perceived conflicts of interest."

The CIRM Legislative Subcommittee will discuss the bill at its meeting on Friday. Its analysis also discusses two other state measures and links to their text and analysis. However, the CIRM link to the analysis for SB1565 is for an older version of the bill. Here is the link to the latest analysis.

Stem Cell Watchdog Warns of the Lure of the World Stage

San Diego – The Consumer Watchdog group today sounded a cautionary note on the international agreements involving CIRM (see item below) and warned that they "should be supported so long as they are based on scientific merit, not merely the glamor and glitz of playing on the world stage."

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for the watchdog group, noted that California law requires that CIRM-funded research be conducted within the state. Prop. 71 also requires that California suppliers be given preference, an issue that is now before the California legislature.

Simpson said in a statement,

"If the collaborations are driven by the science, that’s great. If it’s a matter of saying let’s go international, just to play on the world stage, I would be dubious."

He continued,

"It’s important that applicants for the disease team grants be judged completely on the scientific merit of their proposals,. Decisions cannot be twisted for geographic equity. I would hope that international collaborative efforts would rise to the top, but if they don’t, so be it."

Sweeping Cancer Fight Launched by CIRM and Canada

SAN DIEGO -- Backed by $100 million in Canadian cash, the Canadian government and the California stem cell agency today announced a three-year effort to probe the role of cancer stem cells in developing the disease.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement:

"Entering into collaborations such as this, which bring together leading medical research capabilities, have great potential in improving the lives of not only Californians, but people around the world."

Canadian Minister of Health Tony Clement said his government will contribute more than $100 million to the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, which will work with CIRM on the effort.

A statement from CIRM said,

"The first potential area for collaboration under consideration is the upcoming CIRM Disease Team grants. These grants will provide an opportunity for researchers in California and Canada to collaborate, broadening the potential pool of expertise that can be applied toward research in a specific area."

CIRM's board of directors next week is scheduled to approve $1 million in planning grants for the disease program, which will run about $122 million. Those grants are expected to be awarded this time next year.

CIRM President Alan Trounson said,

"One of CIRM’s primary goals is to accelerate the field of stem cell research as a whole. In some instances we can do this more effectively through collaborations that involve the best scientific endeavors, regardless of geography. Through this relationship, CIRM money will continue to be earmarked only for research that takes place within California, but our funding can be significantly leveraged to accelerate the clinical benefits for patients. Coordinating our joint efforts in cancer stem cell research through collaborative programs with our colleagues in Canada will enhance the opportunities to contain and to prevent recurrence of certain cancers."

The Canadian/California announcement said the the Canadian partners in stem cell consortium are the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Stem Cell Network, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and Genome Canada. The news release said they "are expected to make an initial investment of more than $100 million Canadian dollars in the collaboration, with Genome Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Government through the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, having already confirmed commitments of up to $30 million each for cancer stem cell research. CIRM will support the collaboration through its existing programs."

CIRM also announced another collaborative agreement between the Australian state of Victoria, also utilizing the disease team grant program. The announcement said CIRM and Victoria are "laying the foundation for an arrangement under which they will jointly seek grant applications, evaluate them, and make recommendations for funding research activities." (Trounson is from Australia, moving to California to take the presidency of CIRM in January.)

The announcement did not indicate any funding beyond the $122 million from CIRM.

Both announcements were made at the BIO conference here, which has attracted an estimated 20,000 persons from throughout the world.

Schwarzenegger made a luncheon speech at the conference. Video clips are expected to be mounted on his web site later today. His office also prepared a California biotech fact sheet that highlight CIRM's $1.1 billion lab construction effort and its $530 million in research grants.

CIRM Budget to Jump Nearly 50 Percent

The California stem cell agency has proposed a $13 million operating budget for its next fiscal year, up 46 percent from this year's spending plan.

The proposal's biggest increases are for salaries and benefits -- $6.7 million, up 39 percent – and external contracts – $2.7 million, up 50 percent. The agency is proposing to increase its staff from 37 to about 45. Prop. 71 caps staff size at 50.

The "other travel" category is scheduled to jump 287 percent, to $558,000. CIRM said the increase will allow the scientific staff to attend meetings that will enable CIRM "to have an integrated picture of state of the art and forward-looking research agendas."

The spending plan also seems to shift more responsibilities to CIRM Chairman Robert Klein. The document said,

"The proposed budget reflects the redirection of legal and communication staff and contracts, as appropriate, from the Office of the President to the Office of Administration and the Office of the Chair. It also reflects the creation of the new Office of the Vice-Chair/President which is focused on intellectual property issues."

No further explanation was offered.

The budget for the $3 billion agency will be taken up tomorrow at a meeting of the Finance Subcommittee of CIRM's board of directors. It will then go to the full board at its meeting June 26 and 27.

The budget presentation is lucid and reasonably complete but was posted yesterday, only two days before it is scheduled to be discussed publicly.

Canadian Money and Gladstone/Yamanaka Research

SAN DIEGO – Robert Klein, chairman of the California stem cell agency, and Alan Trounson, its president, are in San Diego for the mammoth biotech industry conference -- BIO -- that has attracted about 20,000 persons.
They are scheduled to hold a news conference later today to announce more developments in the California/Canadian stem cell research partnership. Their event appears to be tied to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's announcement Tuesday that his province will pony up $1 million for new stem cell research linked to California. That's on top of $30 million announced a year ago.

According to CBC News, the research will be conducted by Shinya Yamanaka of the Gladstone Institute in San Francisco. Also part of the research effort are the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada.

Rob Ferguson of the Toronto Star reported:

"'Both centers will be collecting patients with various diseases and making (ips) cells,' said Dr. Deepak Srivastava, director of Gladstone and a pediatric cardiologist."

We will have more on the Klein/Trounson news conference later today as well as a report on the biotech industry outlook by Steve Burrill, head of the Burrill & Co. biotech investment firm in San Francisco.

CIRM to Dish Up Millions for New Cell Line Research

The California stem cell agency next week is scheduled to hand out $25 million in grants for development of new cell lines and $1 million to help institutions that plan to apply later for $122 million in disease team planning grants.

The new cell line round is the first to be open to businesses based throughout the United States, although they must have a "research site" in California as of Feb. 5 of this year. Twelve firms have applied for funding. Fifty applications in all were received for 16 grants.

Fifty-nine applications were received for the 20 disease team planning grants, including nine businesses.

Also on the agenda for June 26 and June 27 in Burlingame, Ca., is the budget for CIRM for the financial year beginning July 1, CIRM's positions on stem cell legislation in California and Washington, D.C., a report on gifts to CIRM, consideration of a new round of grants for translational grants, "consideration of issues affecting" the $271 million lab grant programs and much more.

The agenda lists 28 items but, as usual at this point, does not contain any background material on any of them, including the decisions made by grant review committee on the new cell line and disease team planning applications. Some material is likely to be posted before the actual meeting.

Link to IP Law & Business Story

The item below originally omitted the link to the story about CIRM and IP. You can find the story here if you use the magazine's free registration.

California Stem Cell Cash – Last Resort for Business?

Revolutionaries, uncertainties and big California bucks are all part of a piece in IP Law & Business magazine this month dealing with the state's $3 billion stem cell research agency.

Written by Joe Mullin, the cover piece explored the world of IP at CIRM, including comments from Robert Klein, chairman of the agency, and concerns from biotech businesses.

Klein was described as maintaining "the rhetoric and stance of a combative underdog." Mullin wrote that Klein spoke to a group of stem cell activists last spring, firing them up for the fray.

"'How many people do you think it takes to start a revolution?' he asked the crowd. 'I can tell you, it's many less than the people in this room.'"

Mullin noted the importance of California's $3 billion for research at both academic institutions and businesses. But he said that the fact that California has called for payback on some of its investment is troubling to some in industry. He wrote:

"...(If) California is any guide, state funding may usher in long periods of uncertainty, and new demands for a much larger share of the proceeds from any discoveries than what the life science industry has seen before."

Mullin continued:

"By contrast (to the federal government), California's stem cell agency is still an unknown quantity, and that spooks the biotech industry. 'There is an oft-repeated concern that IP will need to be shared with competitors,' says (Paul) De Stefano(a Fish & Richardson partner and former chief corporate counsel for Genentech Inc.). 'Whether that's a legitimate fear or not, I've heard literally dozens of investors talk about it,' he adds.

"BioTime Inc., for instance, had considered applying for a small CIRM grant-only about $300,000-but has decided to look elsewhere for now. The company's CEO, Michael West, says he still might apply for a CIRM grant, but he'll keep the money away from BioTime's core business so as not to burden the company with what he calls 'completely unrealistic' state royalty rates."

Mullin wrote:

"The fact that CIRM is considering changes to the IP policies is 'disquieting, to say the least,' says Palo Alto-based StemCells, Inc. general counsel Kenneth Stratton. His company, which along with Geron is well-established by industry standards, won't say whether it is applying for a CIRM grant. But like West at BioTime, Stratton says that the requirements make CIRM money expensive and less attractive than other options. The agency is at risk of becoming a 'funder of last resort,' says Stratton."

However, Mullin quoted CIRM officials as saying it is currently processing 50 grant applications from businesses. That number undoubtedly will rise as more requests for applications are forthcoming from CIRM.

Our comment: Klein is inclined to flourishes that are keyed to his different audiences. On one hand, he fires up activists with rhetoric unsettling to businesses. On the other hand, he assuages industry anxiety at sessions involving his generous $500 million biotech loan proposal. Business concerns about uncertainty are financially quite legitimate and to be expected. However, those concerns will never be completely alleviated, and California has a big bundle of cash previously unavailable to industry. CIRM has an obligation to cut the best deal possible for the people of California.

(Access to the IP Law & Business article requires free registration, although it calls the process a "subscription.")

CIRM Directors To Take Crack at Budget and Stem Cell Legislation

Next week, the $3 billion California stem cell agency will air for the first time the proposed spending plan for its upcoming fiscal year, which begins only 11 days following the budget session.

A draft of the proposed budget has not yet been posted on the agency's website for next Thursday's meeting of the Finance Subcommittee of CIRM's directors. The panel has also scheduled an informational presentation on the proposed $500 million biotech loan program, including discussion of "portfolio policies" and use of consultants. Background information on that presentation is also not yet available.

In another meeting next week, the directors' Legislative Subcommittee is scheduled on Friday to consider state legislation aimed at ensuring affordable access to CIRM-financed therapies. That measure, SB1565 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, and Sen. George Runner, R-Apple Valley, has passed the state Senate and is now before the Assembly Health Committee.

The bill would also require an outside study of CIRM to completed by about this time next year, with recommendations for changes in the agency's structure and procedures.

CIRM has not yet taken a position on the bill, but has opposed similar legislation in the past.

Also up for consideration by CIRM directors is other state legislation (AB2381) aimed at compelling CIRM to follow through on a Prop. 71 requirement to give preferential treatment to California businesses. The bill by Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-San Mateo, has passed the Assembly and is scheduled to be heard June 25 in the Senate Health Committee, chaired by Kuehl.

CIRM is moving on its own to deal with legislative concerns about failure to comply with Prop. 71, but CIRM's proposal seems to leave the door open to more competition from businesses from out-of-state than Mullin's measure.

Other legislation scheduled to be considered by CIRM directors is AB2663 by Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton, and AB2296, another Mullin bill. The Dymally measure, now in the Assembly Health Committee, would provide for Medi-Cal coverage of stem cell clinical trial expenses, under certain conditions. Mullin's 2296, which passed the Assembly 76-0 and is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee, seeks to deter what its backers believe is an alarming increase in attacks on scientists who use animals in research. The measure is sponsored by the University of California.

CIRM has not posted any proposed positions or analysis of any of the measures. But you can find the latest legislative staff analysis on the bills on the following links: SB1565, AB2381, AB2663, AB2296.

The CIRM committee has also scheduled a "consideration of status" of federal stem cell legislation, including the stem cell bill vetoed by President Bush nearly a year ago.

The main meeting locations of both CIRM committees is San Francisco, but remote teleconference locations are available. For the legislative group, they include Sacramento, Irvine and Elk Grove. For the finance group, they include Pleasanton, Irvine, Berkeley and Carlsbad. The specific addresses can be found via the agenda links in the second and third paragraphs of this item.

CIRM Proposal to End Peer Review Requirement

The Consumer Watchdog group has detected a proposed, far-reaching change in how grants could be awarded by the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for the Santa Monica group, reported on his blog Wednesday that CIRM is proposed to eliminate language that requires peer review of grant applications. Instead, the CIRM president, currently Alan Trounson, would review the applications.

Simpson quotes a CIRM spokesman as saying that the language is intended to apply in the cases of applications for small grants for conferences and workshops. However, Simpson notes that the proposed language goes well beyond that.

He said that the language in the grants administration policy that would be eliminated is:

"'All research proposals will be peer reviewed so that the most promising scientific proposals are funded.'

"The reason given:

"'This is a substantive change to allow for the possibility of Program Announcements under which the President, rather than the GWG(Grants Working Group), will review applications.'"

The change comes up at a June 20 meeting on the grants administration policy. Simpson said he will suggest modification of the proposal so that it would not strike the peer review requirement. Instead Simpson would add the following:

"Proposals to fund conferences, symposia, workshops or similar events will be reviewed by the President."

CIRM Dredging Up Old Economic Controversy

Four years ago, supporters of California stem cell research ballyhooed the economic impact of the Prop. 71, the ballot measure that created the state's $3 billion inquiry into human embryonic stem cells.

A $200,000 study commissioned by the Prop. 71 campaign predicted healthcare savings of as much as $12.6 billion over 30 years and a net state government profit of at least $1 billion. The study was instantly a bone of contention during the campaign and long after and held up as an example of stem cell hype.

"Hopelessly optimistic" was how one reasonably detached writer, David Hamilton, described the campaign analysis in a "biotech bubble" story for Slate.com.

The study was ordered up by then Prop. 71 campaign chief Robert Klein. Now chairman of the California stem cell agency, Klein has commissioned another economic impact report by the same organization, Analysis Group of Palo Alto, Ca. This time the study will cost only $49,900 but it comes at the expense of taxpayers – not campaign donors. It also diverts funds from other activities of the stem cell agency. The question is why?

With few exceptions, no one is likely to deny that California's stem cell research can benefit the state economically. The principal dispute is about the magnitude of the impact. However, this latest study suffers from the same problem as the first. It is not likely to produce a finding that runs contrary to the beliefs of Chairman Klein and other supporters of the stem cell research. That leaves CIRM open to credibility challenges.

The study is also not necessary to convince true believers. And adamant opponents will never believe it. That leaves only a tiny segment of the population as a propaganda target, if one is to believe Klein. He has repeatedly minimized the size of that group, citing overwhelming support for hESC research among the general population.

The study will certainly generate several results – none of which is favorable for CIRM. It will raise questions about unnecessary spending of taxpayer money. It will rekindle a debate about the true economic impact of CIRM, stirring up controversies better left dormant. And it will feed concerns about stem cell hype on the part of the agency and raise questions about its credibility.

Here are samples from the David Hamilton's piece Feb. 6, 2007, in which the former Wall Street Journal reporter wrote that the campaign study appeared "hopelessly optimistic."

"To begin with, they assume that stem-cell treatments will work in the first place. Many of the most hyped biotechnology innovations of the last 25 years have yet to live up to their early promise. And when they do work, they often tend to improve medical care at the margins instead of revolutionizing it."

"What about the potential of stem-cell research to spur economic development—can a state that sponsors stem-cell research hope to attract cool scientists who will then draw others, plus a coterie of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists? Biotech companies do tend to cluster in places like San Francisco and Boston, but their overall impact on regional economies tends to be limited. While they often pay high salaries, the vast majority of these companies are tiny, unprofitable startups with fewer than 100 employees. They frequently collapse well before they earn a dollar in sales. Even successful biotech ventures are often bought out by distant drug companies, which sometimes shut down the acquired company while transferring its research activities and any products elsewhere."

Hamilton also cited a study by Richard Gilbert, a UC Berkeley economist, who estimated California's potential royalty income from CIRM research could be as low as $18 million compared to $1.1 billion suggested by the 2004 study by the Analysis Group.

We could be wrong about all this. Perhaps the Analysis Group will produce a study that is hailed as balanced, objective and useful. CIRM tells us to look for the report, originally scheduled for January, to appear later this month.

Stem Cell Research, Money and State Efforts

The United States is lagging behind other countries in terms of its global share of human embryonic stem cell research, but that could change as more states pump dollars into the effort.

That's the upshot of a report by Aaron Levine(pictured), assistant professor of public policy at Georgia Tech, in the online publication Cell Stem Cell.

He said supportive policies and public research dollars in the United Kingdom, Israel, China, Singapore and Australia are producing unusually large shares of published hESC research.

However, the Georgia Tech press release on Levine's work says,

"Venturing where the federal government fears to tread, states like California, New York, Connecticut and Maryland are becoming places researchers can turn to for human embryonic stem cell funding. But Levine thinks that development may complicate matters.

"'There are a variety of funding sources out there now, but it makes the field more complicated for scientists to follow the various rules set forth by the states and foundations,' said Levine. 'I think scientists would prefer clear oversight from a federal government that’s supportive of their research.'

"Levine plans to follow up this current work with a look at how collaboration is affected by these different state policies."

Monya Baker of Nature's Niche stem cell blog also wrote about the study.

She reported,

"'The study chips away at the question but doesn't necessarily take into account a number of other factors,' says Stanford University’s Jennifer McCormick, whose work has also found that the rate of the US publications in human ES cell research was lagging relative to other countries. For example, the study does not control for the fact that some countries invest more in commercial than academic research or that some countries recognize patents covering human ES cell research and others do not. "

Andrea Gawrylewski of The Scientist had this:

Brian Salter, professor of politics and biomedicine at King's College London, said the Levine study does not take into account the hierarchy of journals and journal impact factors. She quoted Salter as saying,

"Underperforming countries may have scientists who go for the higher status journals."

Fresh Human Eggs and Stem Cell Economics

The price of human eggs and their scarcity, at least for stem cell research, once again have risen as topics, but this time in New York.

The events in the Empire State, however, dovetail nicely with a similar, ongoing issue at the Golden State's $3 billion stem cell agency.

Hawk-eyed Jesse Reynolds of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, Ca., spotted the New York egg issue and reported on it on the Biopolitical Times.

He wrote on June 3,

"One aspect that caught my eye, not surprisingly, concerns the sourcing of fresh human eggs for cloning-based stem cell research (a.k.a. somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT). Although NYSTEM's brief authorizing law is silent on this and related issues, such matters have been deliberated by NYSTEM's Ethics Committee. The draft strategic plan reveals the Committee and the program's governing board are considering offering compensation for women to provide eggs. (pages 26-27)

"This would be an unfortunate deviation to the generally agreed-upon practice of only reimbursing for expenses. I am aware of no ethics committee that has endorsed payments,* and of only one research team which offered them (and that was before the consensus against compensation crystallized in 2004). The good news is that there is still time for input: NYSTEM has not explored the issue in depth, and the Ethics Committee will discuss the topic at its next meeting."

Earlier this year, we reported that the California stem cell agency has embarked on a review of the human egg market and the needs of researchers, some of whom are complaining that they do not have enough raw material.

The study was set in motion after Harvard scientist Kevin Eggan told the CIRM Standards Working Group that he and his colleagues had spent $100,000 advertising for donors and "pursued every option" for collecting eggs with little success.

CIRM President Alan Trounson said "accessing those eggs is no trivial matter." He said scientists are seeking grants from CIRM for research that may not be feasible because of the lack of human eggs.

A wide-ranging review of the issue and related topics is expected to surface publicly at CIRM sometime this year. Issues that may be aired include: availability of eggs and their numbers, researchers' perceptions of the problem, possible reimbursement of IVF treatment, use of eggs by CIRM researchers from other areas where compensation restrictions are not so tight (such as possibly New York) and the grandfathering of cell lines that were derived before CIRM regulations were adopted.

The subject comes under the Standards Working Group, which has a July 25 meeting scheduled in Los Angeles. However, no topic for that session has been announced. We are asking CIRM when the egg issue will come up.

On other related notes:

The Feb. 28 meeting of the Standards Working Group on eggs and other matters carried a reference by CIRM Chairman Robert Klein to an "opinion" by CIRM outside counsel. We queried CIRM about the opinion. Here is the agency's response:

"There is no email or other written legal opinion from James Harrison regarding reimbursements for IVF costs. The transcript from the working group reflects that Bob did query Harrison during the meeting asking him to send a copy of law 1260 (SB1260 by Sen. Deborah Ortiz), which deals with payments for eggs. Harrison did send the bill in an email and that is what is referenced in the transcript. Bob requested that so that he could show a section toward the end of the bill that explicitly states nothing in 1260 is designed to change anything in Prop. 71."

Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society also has a rundown on writings by feminist scholars on eggs and cloning-based stem cell research. You can find the citations and links to the articles here.