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Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

Stem Cell Blowback from Proposition 71


Proposition 71 last week once again
stood in the way of action by the $3 billion California stem cell
agency.

This time it was a bit of minutia
embedded in state law that prevented the agency's governing board
from going forward. The result is that the board will have to hold
another meeting in August to approve matters that need to be acted on
in a timely fashion.
The minutia involves the supermajority
quorum requirement for the board, the percentage of board members
needed to conduct business legally. Proposition 71, the 10,000-word
ballot initiative that created the agency in 2004, stipulates that 65
percent of the 29 members of the board be present for action.
Here is what happened: Late last
Thursday afternoon, CIRM directors were moving fast after a long day
of dealing with $151 million in research awards. But as they
attempted to act on proposed changes in the agency's important
intellectual property rules, one of the board members left the
meeting, presumably to catch a flight. The result was that the
meeting quickly ended after it was decided to deal with the IP
proposal and another matter during a telephonic meeting this month.
The quorum problem has plagued the CIRM
board since its inception, although the situation has eased since
J.T. Thomas, a Los Angeles bond financier, was elected chairman in
2011. A few years back, the board also changed its rules to allow a
limited number of board members to participate in meetings by
telephone, reducing the pressure on board members to physically
attend meetings.
The obvious solution would be to change
the quorum to 50 percent, a reasonable standard. However, the board
is legally barred from doing that. To make the change would require a super, supermajority vote, 70 percent of
each house of the state legislature and the signature of the
governor. That is another bit that is embedded in state law, courtesy of Proposition 71. To attempt to win a  70 percent legislative vote would involve a political process
that could be contentious and also involve some horse-trading that
the stem cell agency would not like to see.
Why does the 65-percent quorum
requirement exist? Normally, one would think such internal matters
are best left to the governing board itself. It is difficult to know
why former CIRM Chairman Bob Klein and his associates wrote that
requirement into law. But it does allow a minority to have effective
veto power over many actions by the governing board.
Of course, there is another way to look
at the problem: CIRM board members could change their flights and
stick around until all the business is done. But that would ignore
the reality that all of them are extremely busy people and have
schedules that are more than full.
All of this goes to one of the major policy issues in California -- ballot box budgeting and the use of initiatives that are inflexible and all but impossible to change, even when the state is in the midst of a financial crisis in which the poor, the elderly and school children are the victims. One California economist has called the situation "our special hell."

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | Comments Off on Stem Cell Blowback from Proposition 71

$20 Million in Stem Cell Irony


A bit of irony popped up this
week in the wake of approval of $151 million in awards by the
California stem cell agency.

One of the awards was $20 million to
StemCells, Inc., of Newark, Ca., which is also fighting hard for
another $20 million from the state research enterprise.
However, back in 2008, Kenneth
Stratton, general counsel for the firm, put some distance between his
company and the agency, which is handing out $3 billion in toto.
Stratton said,

"We will take CIRM money last. We
don't want to be in a position where, years from now, we are actually
forced to sell [our products] in California at a loss."

But last week, Martin McGlynn, CEO of
StemCells, said in a press release,

“We are extremely grateful to CIRM
for its support.”

Times have changed for both the company
and CIRM, which is in the process of altering the intellectual
property rules that offended Stratton in 2008. The changes were due
to be approved last Thursday, but action was put off by the CIRM
board. It was overwhelmed as it dealt with the record pace of appeals
by researchers who were scrambling to overturn negative decisions by
grant reviewers.
StemCells' application for another $20
million is one of those being appealed. The board will take it up
again in either September or late October, after it undergoes
additional scrutiny by the agency.
CIRM is touting its IP changes as being
more friendly to business. They also can be made retroactive to cover
awards to business made in the past. CIRM directors expect to meet by
telephone, probably in August, to approve the new IP rules.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | Comments Off on $20 Million in Stem Cell Irony

$20 Million in Stem Cell Irony


A bit of irony popped up this
week in the wake of approval of $151 million in awards by the
California stem cell agency.

One of the awards was $20 million to
StemCells, Inc., of Newark, Ca., which is also fighting hard for
another $20 million from the state research enterprise.
However, back in 2008, Kenneth
Stratton, general counsel for the firm, put some distance between his
company and the agency, which is handing out $3 billion in toto.
Stratton said,

"We will take CIRM money last. We
don't want to be in a position where, years from now, we are actually
forced to sell [our products] in California at a loss."

But last week, Martin McGlynn, CEO of
StemCells, said in a press release,

“We are extremely grateful to CIRM
for its support.”

Times have changed for both the company
and CIRM, which is in the process of altering the intellectual
property rules that offended Stratton in 2008. The changes were due
to be approved last Thursday, but action was put off by the CIRM
board. It was overwhelmed as it dealt with the record pace of appeals
by researchers who were scrambling to overturn negative decisions by
grant reviewers.
StemCells' application for another $20
million is one of those being appealed. The board will take it up
again in either September or late October, after it undergoes
additional scrutiny by the agency.
CIRM is touting its IP changes as being
more friendly to business. They also can be made retroactive to cover
awards to business made in the past. CIRM directors expect to meet by
telephone, probably in August, to approve the new IP rules.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | Comments Off on $20 Million in Stem Cell Irony

Stem Cell Blowback from Proposition 71


Proposition 71 last week once again
stood in the way of action by the $3 billion California stem cell
agency.

This time it was a bit of minutia
embedded in state law that prevented the agency's governing board
from going forward. The result is that the board will have to hold
another meeting in August to approve matters that need to be acted on
in a timely fashion.
The minutia involves the supermajority
quorum requirement for the board, the percentage of board members
needed to conduct business legally. Proposition 71, the 10,000-word
ballot initiative that created the agency in 2004, stipulates that 65
percent of the 29 members of the board be present for action.
Here is what happened: Late last
Thursday afternoon, CIRM directors were moving fast after a long day
of dealing with $151 million in research awards. But as they
attempted to act on proposed changes in the agency's important
intellectual property rules, one of the board members left the
meeting, presumably to catch a flight. The result was that the
meeting quickly ended after it was decided to deal with the IP
proposal and another matter during a telephonic meeting this month.
The quorum problem has plagued the CIRM
board since its inception, although the situation has eased since
J.T. Thomas, a Los Angeles bond financier, was elected chairman in
2011. A few years back, the board also changed its rules to allow a
limited number of board members to participate in meetings by
telephone, reducing the pressure on board members to physically
attend meetings.
The obvious solution would be to change
the quorum to 50 percent, a reasonable standard. However, the board
is legally barred from doing that. To make the change would require a super, supermajority vote, 70 percent of
each house of the state legislature and the signature of the
governor. That is another bit that is embedded in state law, courtesy of Proposition 71. To attempt to win a  70 percent legislative vote would involve a political process
that could be contentious and also involve some horse-trading that
the stem cell agency would not like to see.
Why does the 65-percent quorum
requirement exist? Normally, one would think such internal matters
are best left to the governing board itself. It is difficult to know
why former CIRM Chairman Bob Klein and his associates wrote that
requirement into law. But it does allow a minority to have effective
veto power over many actions by the governing board.
Of course, there is another way to look
at the problem: CIRM board members could change their flights and
stick around until all the business is done. But that would ignore
the reality that all of them are extremely busy people and have
schedules that are more than full.
All of this goes to one of the major policy issues in California -- ballot box budgeting and the use of initiatives that are inflexible and all but impossible to change, even when the state is in the midst of a financial crisis in which the poor, the elderly and school children are the victims. One California economist has called the situation "our special hell."

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | Comments Off on Stem Cell Blowback from Proposition 71

Fears over 'stem cell tourism' Save

Aug. 5, 2012, 3 a.m.

A GROWING number of overseas clinics touting stem cell therapy for conditions ranging from sexual disorders to HIV are targeting Australia, where such treatments are restricted.

Australian scientists have raised concerns about so-called ''stem cell tourism'', saying many of the treatments offered are unproven, untested and potentially deadly.

The Swiss firm Fetal Cell Technologies International has been advertising in Australia since last year and Emcell, based in Ukraine, started promoting its services last month.

It is estimated as many as 200 Australians have travelled overseas for the therapy. The secretary for science policy at the Australian Academy of Science, Bob Williamson, said he empathised with the desperation of seriously ill people but warned against the unproven therapies, which can cost up to $60,000.

''The therapies are almost all untested and unproven and sometimes they have killed people,'' Professor Williamson said. The Sun-Herald's calls to Emcell's Melbourne office were not returned.

Stem Cells Australia's Megan Munsie, who is conducting a study into stem cell tourism with Monash University, said many people she interviewed were unaware of the risks of therapy overseas.

''We're not talking about rubbing something into your skin or taking a capsule, we are talking about often a very invasive procedure,'' she said.

The rest is here:
Fears over 'stem cell tourism' Save

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | Comments Off on Fears over 'stem cell tourism' Save

Fears over 'stem cell tourism'

A GROWING number of overseas clinics touting stem cell therapy for conditions ranging from sexual disorders to HIV are targeting Australia, where such treatments are restricted.

Australian scientists have raised concerns about so-called ''stem cell tourism'', saying many of the treatments offered are unproven, untested and potentially deadly.

The Swiss firm Fetal Cell Technologies International has been advertising in Australia since last year and Emcell, based in Ukraine, started promoting its services last month.

It is estimated as many as 200 Australians have travelled overseas for the therapy. The secretary for science policy at the Australian Academy of Science, Bob Williamson, said he empathised with the desperation of seriously ill people but warned against the unproven therapies, which can cost up to $60,000.

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''The therapies are almost all untested and unproven and sometimes they have killed people,'' Professor Williamson said. The Sun-Herald's calls to Emcell's Melbourne office were not returned.

Stem Cells Australia's Megan Munsie, who is conducting a study into stem cell tourism with Monash University, said many people she interviewed were unaware of the risks of therapy overseas.

''We're not talking about rubbing something into your skin or taking a capsule, we are talking about often a very invasive procedure,'' she said.

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Fears over 'stem cell tourism'

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