Monday, August 29, 2005

The Bee: Golden State Deserves More from Stem Cell Research

California lawmakers should step in to assure that taxpayers reap the benefits of the $3 billion in stem cell research they are financing, The Sacramento Bee said Monday.

And state Treasurer Phil Angelides, a candidate for governor, should cough up documents that he has relating to the issue, according to The Bee’s editorial, which recommended that legislators press him to do so.

The Bee was reacting to the report by the California Council on Science and Technology last week that said the state should not expect a bonanza from CIRM, at least not any time in the next 10 years.

“Prop. 71 supporters are doing a flip-flop. Biotech firms and university officials are saying that royalties and discounted care would discourage ‘innovation’ and diminish the potential for medical breakthroughs. To drive home this point, they are now throwing cold water on the idea that stem cell research will be very profitable,” The Bee editorialized.

“The CCST report is significant for several reasons. First, the council is composed of leading biotech executives and university bigwigs, a group that hasn't previously acknowledged that Prop. 71 was oversold to voters. Second, it represents an attempt by biotech leaders to have it both ways. Back in 2004, they campaigned for an initiative that will provide their industry with $3 billion in taxpayer-funded venture capital. Now that it is law, they issue an official-sounding report that recommends California give up on royalties - negating some of the arguments that helped get Proposition 71 passed.”

The Bee also pointed to a little-noticed letter earlier this year to Angelides from the state’s “bond counsel (that) warned that patents and royalties resulting from state grants might be construed as taxable ‘assets,’ making them ineligible for financing by tax-exempt bonds.

“Apparently, Angelides and leaders of the stem-cell institute have known about these challenges for some time, but haven't said anything. To flush out this issue, this page (The Bee’s editorial page) filed an open records request for all memos written by the treasurer's bond counsel on Proposition 71 prior to its passage. Angelides rejected those requests, citing attorney-client privilege.”

Lawmakers should sniff out the documents and create a new panel to look at the intellectual property issues involving CIRM, The Bee said.

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