Advocates urge more stem cell research funds
DORI BERMAN
Daily Record Business Writer
January 24, 2007 6:41 PM
As
promised during his campaign, Gov. Martin O’Malley devoted
$25 million in his first budget to stem cell research, but
advocates still want more.
Maryland Families for Stem Cell
Research, an advocacy group, held an event in Annapolis Wednesday
to discuss Maryland’s fledgling stem cell funding program,
started last summer after the controversial legislation passed
early last year.
Several states have committed funds, or
are considering doing so, to stem cell research, which scientists
believe has the potential to find treatments or cures for numerous
diseases, including Parkinson’s, juvenile diabetes and
Alzheimer’s.
Last year, Maryland lawmakers made $15
million available for the first round of state funding, while the
state stem cell commission received applications for more than $80
million in grants. So while scientists and advocates yesterday
applauded O’Malley for following through with his
commitment, they believe more money will be needed to help attract
new scientists and companies to the state.
”It’s
not enough,” said Dr. Jonathan Auerbach, who runs GlobalStem
Inc., a Rockville-based company that he believes is the only
embryonic stem cell company in the state. “If you look at
the statistics [of the applications submitted] you only have a 16
or 17 percent chance of getting a grant.”
Auerbach
knows what it takes to attract a company. After working for a
nonprofit cell repository in Northern Virginia, Auerbach and some
co-workers decided to strike out on their own to create products
to aid basic embryonic stem cell research.
When
Maryland’s stem cell funding legislation
passed, the team of scientists chose to cross state lines to start
their company.
“There’s
a good chance that we would’ve gone to
California,†he said, referring to that
state’s commitment of $3 billion to fund stem
cell research.
O’Malley said he would like to commit
$25 million to the program each year he is in office, but added,
“I don’t know whether we will be able to do that”
noting the state’s impending structural budget crisis.
Linda Powers, chairwoman of the Maryland Stem Cell
Research Commission, which will award the grants, and co-founder
of Bethesda-based Toucan Capital Corp., which invests in stem cell
research, thanked the governor for fulfilling his promise,
particularly in tight budget times.
She noted, however,
that the board is “still going to be
inundated†with grant requests. The key to
making the most of the program, she said, will be ensuring that
some of the money allocated is spent on translation, or getting
the research to clinical trials.
”If we make money
available for translation, we can attract the best and brightest
companies to Maryland,” she said. “Startup companies
are movable, and they’e desperate for money.”
She
also stressed that lawmakers were smart to make the money
available for both embryonic and adult stem cell projects. While
scientists believe embryonic research holds more future potential,
adult stem cell research is more mature and will likely offer more
marketable products in the near future.
A bill introduced
last week would give greater weight in the grant process to
embryonic process, but Powers suggested letting the science drive
those decisions, rather than legislation.
In addition to
the funding for stem cell research in the budget, O’Malley
has also introduced legislation to create a Life Sciences Advisory
Board within the Department of Business and Economic Development.
The board’s mission will be to promote life sciences
research and help transfer the research to market.
Comptroller
Peter Franchot promised in his inaugural speech Monday that he
will convene a life sciences summit this year to discuss how
Maryland can make the most of the growing industry.
