All eyes on MD's stem cell act

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 22, 2005 by Dori Berman

Lawmakers and biotechnology industry representatives warned yesterday the state's commitment to building its economy through the biotechnology sector could stall if a bill establishing a fund for stem cell research does not become law.

Other states are investing heavily. A tidal wave of research dollars will be hitting California, said Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan at a news conference yesterday in Annapolis.

In Montgomery County we've seen firsthand the potential growth of the industry. The history of Maryland can be made now, he added.

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2005, SB 751, could get a vote this week in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee, according to Sen. Paula Hollinger, D-Baltimore County. She is the lead sponsor of the bill and chairman of the committee.

I'm hoping that we have our votes this week, she said. Every day more and more people are getting on board.

The bill, cross-filed with HB 1183, would dedicate $25 million annually towards embryonic stem cell research. The bill also bans human cloning and specifies that the stem cells authorized for use would be fertilized embryos from in-vitro fertilization clinics that would otherwise be destroyed. Funding for the proposal would come from the cigarette restitution fund.

A study conducted by economist Anirban Basu of Sage Policy Group Inc. found that the funding would lead to nearly 600 new jobs, $30.2 million in income and $1.7 million in tax revenue per year. An analysis of a stem cell research funding program in California found that each dollar of state funding generates one to two dollars of private investment.

All of the economic benefits represent the opportunity cost of not making these investments, Basu said. In Maryland, the first industry we always talk about is bioscience. Our lofty ranking is coveted. Maryland can put its money where its mouth is, or it can decide to give way to more aggressive states.

Following California's lead - that state will devote $3 billion over the next decade to stem cell research - 16 states have research initiatives pending, according to Patrick Kelly, vice president of state government relations at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a Washington-based trade group.

Kelly and other industry representatives warned that a lack of state funding could lead to top researchers and companies leaving Maryland in search of locations that offer more resources.

We're spending a lot more time out there [in California] developing partnerships, said Doug Doerfler, president and CEO of MaxCyte Inc., a biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg.

Failure to pass the legislation would undoubtedly put Maryland companies at a disadvantage, he said. Companies based in places that have the financial resources will sooner be able to receive patents on lucrative technology.

Those companies will have the ability to block companies like mine, Doerfler said. Royalties could be as high as 10 percent. To remain competitive, we've got to pass this bill.

Opponents of the bill expressed skepticism about those claims.

Nancy Fortier, associate director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said claims that embryonic stem cell research funding is necessary to keep a thriving biotechnology industry in the state are misleading.

If you look at the states that have already banned embryonic stem cell research and human cloning, their biotech industries are flourishing. When people say we're going to suffer economically, they don't know the facts because the facts say otherwise, she said.

Fortier noted that Michigan and Pennsylvania, two states that have banned human cloning, have thriving biotech industries, while Leigh Heller, director of legislation for Maryland Right to Life, said Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation in the biotech industry.

Several of the bill's supporters also said Maryland has been slipping in rankings of states in its nurturing of biotechnology companies. They said the bill will help restore Maryland's loftier rankings.

But Kelly, of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said it's nearly impossible to rank states in that way because there's no universally agreed-upon definition for what exactly a biotech company is or is not.

Sen. Norman Stone, D-Baltimore County, who opposes abortion, said there are other reasons to oppose embryonic stem cell funding.

I am not aware of any significant success with the use of embryonic stem cells, he said.

Stone sponsored the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005, SB 272, which would have banned embryonic research but allowed adult stem cell research. The bill received an unfavorable report earlier this month from Hollinger's committee.

I know that the sponsors are sincere. It is a pro-life issue, but the other issue is if you look at all the testimony we haven't seen any specific examples of success, he said.