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February 8, 2006
Diverse Stakeholders Address Overcoming Hurdles
To Stem Cell Medicine
SAN FRANCISCO – More than 250 representatives
from academia, state and national governments,
private foundations and industry from around the
world gathered in San Francisco yesterday for
the first annual International Symposium on Stem
Cell Collaboration. The forum was designed to
identify and discuss hurdles to moving stem cell
developments from a laboratory to commercial
reality. Speakers from eight countries agreed
that collaboration is necessary to speed that
process.
“Truly effective and sustained collaboration
between experts in a wide range of fields,
including basic science, intellectual property,
medical ethics, clinical research, public
policy, capital investment, manufacturing and
commercialization is critical, but won’t just
happen on its own,” says Cori Gorman, Ph.D.,
MBA, one of the conference organizers, and chief
executive officer of DNA Bridges. “We needed a
forum to bring these stakeholders together and
identify new models for cooperation.”
Stem cell research holds the potential to
address chronic, debilitating and fatal diseases
that affect a wide range of individuals,
including those with diabetes, spinal cord
injuries, Parkinson’s disease and heart disease.
The research may also provide more efficient
drug discovery and testing methodologies.
Increasingly well-funded laboratory initiatives
are making rapid progress, with seminal
breakthroughs happening recently in centers
around the world. Through the passage of last
year's Proposition 71, California alone has
committed $3 billion to stem cell research over
the next decade. However, translating these
discoveries into widely available therapeutic or
regenerative interventions will require new
solutions to problems as diverse as scalable
manufacturing, patent and licensing conflicts,
and financial risk tolerance.
“The importance of this conference for the
academics involved in regenerative biology is
particularly acute,” says Dr. Nadia Rosenthal,
head of Mouse Biology Program, European
Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). “This is a
unique opportunity for academics like me to meet
industry members in a forum that is very
conducive to collaboration. Without events like
this, we cannot help each other in our goal of
pushing this technology forward.”
Organizers of yesterday’s conference, The
Women's Technology Cluster (WTC), together with
lead sponsors DNA Bridges, Inc., University of
California Industry-University Cooperative
Research Program and the U.C. Discovery Grant,
and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, created
the event to be a catalyst for collaboration
between key international groups.
"The conference highlighted several examples of
collaboration including several at the
international level amongst scientists and
governments. Speakers and participants explored
insights that could be gained from these in
order to further the development of effective
collaboration models" commented Jennifer
McFarlane, CEO Women's Technology Cluster, which
helps women-led biotech companies commercialize
their technologies.
“We were so pleased to be a part of this
conference. Our firm, through its Stem Cell
Outlook and Planning Effort (SCOPE) and its many
life sciences attorneys, is part of this
industry in its infancy,” says Cameo Jones, a
Pillsbury partner. “We have extensive experience
in collaborative arrangements to foster the
growth of start-up life sciences companies and
already represent many stem cell companies.”
The X PRIZE is examining a wide range of
biomedical-related prize areas. “This conference
offered a world-class audience to provide
valuable input. The X PRIZE Foundation, a
nonprofit-education organization, is also
working on a "Genomics X PRIZE" for rapid Genome
sequencing in concert with Dr. Craig Venter, a
Trustee of the X PRIZE. Accelerated gene
sequencing would represent a technology
breakthrough for medical research. The
Foundation is currently talking with potential
title sponsors about these and other prize
initiatives including an Automotive X PRIZE.”
The Women's Technology Cluster
The Women's Technology Cluster is a non-profit
organization designed to increase the number of
successful women-led companies in the life
science, high technology, and clean technology
sectors. The WTC invites high-potential,
early-stage companies with at least one woman in
an executive or founding role to join its
portfolio. Through their dedicated mentor
community of over 150 proven chief executive
officers, investors, and industry experts,
members provide extensive advisory services,
coaching, and access to business and capital
networks for their portfolio companies.
DNA Bridges,® Inc.
The DNA Bridges,® Inc. team of consultants
represents the top talent in the life sciences
industry. Our clients and partners include
biotechnology, pharmaceutical, academic and
government organizations. DNA Bridges applies
sound research, strategic planning and
intelligent solutions to help its clients.
Additionally, we use innovative thinking to
accelerate the delivery of safe and effective
therapeutics to market. For more information,
please visit http://www.dnabridges.com.
X PRIZE Foundation
The X PRIZE Foundation has been described as the
modern day version of the Nobel Prize. However,
instead of rewarding and acknowledging things
that have happened in the past, the X PRIZE
creates high profile incentive prizes that seek
to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit
of humanity. The X PRIZE is most well known for
their first prize, a $10 million prize they
created for the world's first successful private
space flight. For more information, please visit
http:///www.xprize.org.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is an
international law firm with over 900 attorneys
in 16 offices, including San Francisco, New
York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and London.
In business for more than 130 years, Pillsbury’s
practice focuses on capital markets and finance,
energy, global sourcing, litigation, real
estate, technology, life sciences and
communications. http://www.pillsburylaw.com
The University of California Industry-University
Cooperative Research Program
The University of California Industry-University
Cooperative Research Program provides state
funding for matching grants with companies to
support research in: biotechnology,
communications and networking, digital media,
electronics manufacturing and new materials, and
information technology for life sciences. Its
U.C. Discovery Grants fund peer-reviewed
research projects at all 10 U.C. campuses, the
three U.C.-managed National Laboratories, and
the California Agricultural Experiment Station.
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