“Innovation in Biomedicine: Can Stem Cell Research Lead the Way to Affordability?” PLoS Medicine, May 2006. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/pmc/articles/PMC1382006/pdf/pmed.0030126.pdf>.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was created by California’s Proposition 71 in 2004 which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world’s largest single supporter of research in stem cells. The incentives for California include royalties from new therapies, more jobs, and access to cheaper medicines for state residents.

In the current field of research, researchers are encouraged to acquire patents and this has raised the bar and drives researchers to avoid the field. CIRM aims to support collaboration by requiring grant recipients to donate the exclusive license to any insight or technology to a common patent supervised by a nonprofit organization. This will serve as a place where scientists can receive low-cost licenses for further research. Combined with this patent pool will be a prize incentive for companies that collaborate to produce a successful stem cell therapy. Not only will CIRM reduce the cost of research in stem cell therapy and encourage innovation, it will provide affordable medicine. The “shared prize model” eliminates 30%-40% of pharmaceutical industry revenue generated by wasteful marketing costs. It also does not fund research and development of duplicates to medicines that are out on the market. California hopes to reform the biomedical system by changing how government, medical researchers, and the private sector interact.

Do California taxpayers need assurances that they will benefit from any products developed from the research? The institutions getting grants have ties to drug companies have the public at doubt. There is potential for fear that the stem-cell effort could wind up benefiting private companies at taxpayers’ expense. It is almost necessary that the state requires that drugs developed by stem-cell researchers and their affiliated companies be affordable. However, it is essential for universities to have ties with biomedical companies to enhance the research effort. The real solution will come when the interactions between researchers, the government, and private companies. If CIRM is successful, it will pave the way for much more innovation in the biomedical world in the 21st century. A revolution in the biomedical field will be a major breakthrough in healthcare policy.

-Vaishali Mittal