Marlborough Firm Heartened By Stem Cell Decision
Marlborough-based Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), which is developing stem cell treatments for eye diseases, praised a Friday court ruling that it said will eliminate "major speed bumps" to getting federal funding.
Such funding has been permitted, with some restrictions, since President Barack Obama issued an executive order in 2009 overturning a ban put in place by President George W. Bush.
Obama's order drew a legal challenge at the time, which resulted in a federal judge issuing a preliminary injunction in 2010. That injunction was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on Friday.
"We expect that a number of our embryonic stem cell lines will be approved for funding in the coming months," ACT CEO Gary Rabin said in a statement Monday.
Scientific Advances In Stem Cell Creation
ACT has Phase I trials underway for stem cell treatments it has developed for Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy and Dry AMD, which lead to blindness.
Rabin wrote in his blog that "myths and misunderstanding" still permeate the stem cell research discussion, though 12 years have passed since the first human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line was derived.
He noted that ACT derives hESCs through a patented technique that removes a single cell from an embryo without damaging or destroying it, which eliminates many of the ethical and religious arguments against embryonic stem cell research.
"The last time ACT obtained an embryonic stem cell line was from 2005, we do not anticipate needing to do so ever again; and other than one line in which the embryo ultimately had to be discarded, all other embryos related to our research were returned to the clinic, completely viable," Rabin wrote.
Hoping For More Support
Despite the legal challenge, the National Institutes of Health has spent hundreds of millions of federal dollars on hESC research. From 2002 to 2011, the agency awarded $693 million for human embryonic stem cell research, according to its website.
That sounds like a lot of money, but stem cell advocates say more public and private investment is needed to find potential cures for disease.
Rabin hopes Congress will enact "pro-hESC" legislation. He said the legal challenge to NIH funding had created uncertainty for researchers and that he hopes Congress will enact legislation "providing an effective mechanism for federal funding of hESC research."
Francis Collins, the director of NIH, issued a statement on the court ruling that said it affirms the agency's commitments to patients afflicted by diseases that may one day be treatable using stem cell therapies.
"NIH will continue to move forward, conducting and funding research in this very promising area of science," Francis said.
What that could mean for ACT – which is chasing a big market, but whose stock is still trading around 10 cents a share – remains to be seen.
Image credit: freedigitalphotos.net
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