Stem Cell Agency Wary of Increasing Revenue for Research Products
The president of California's stem cell agency on Monday said the state is entitled to an investment return on discoveries made using the agency's grants, but the agency does not want to discourage private sector participation, the San Francisco Examiner reports (Eslinger, San Francisco Examiner, 3/13).
California voters in 2004 approved Proposition 71 to create CIRM and to provide $3 billion in taxpayer funding over 10 years for stem cell research. The funding primarily was intended to finance stem cell research, such as human embryonic stem cell research, for which federal funds are restricted (California Healthline, 2/23)
The measure required that the state receive a share of revenue from patents, royalties and licenses developed using grants from the agency (San Francisco Examiner, 3/13).
The agency in December 2006 tentatively adopted a policy that would require grant recipients to pay the state a 1% share of a product's revenue, as well as nine times the amount of the grant.
Sens. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) and George Runner (R-Lancaster) last month introduced a measure (SB 771) requiring that the state receive a 5% share of revenue (California Healthline, 2/23).
Zach Hall, president of the CIRM, said the institute's revenue-sharing polices are intended to not "discourage the private sector" (San Francisco Examiner, 3/13).
Even if SB 771 fails, "it will help to provide broader input on policies about intellectual property," David Jensen, a former Bee editor who blogs on CIRM, writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece. "The measure additionally will serve as an important test of the institute's openness and political savvy," according to Jensen (Jensen, Sacramento Bee, 3/11).
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