California Stem Cell Agency Awaits Board Decisions on Ethics and Intellectual Property; Final Review Expected Tomorrow at Stanford.

SAN FRANCISCO -- On Friday (2/10/06), the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee (ICOC) for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will meet at Stanford University.

WHAT:

The ICOC will consider the Draft CIRM Regulations as recommended by the Standards Working Group last week in Los Angeles. Under the proposed regulations, CIRM will be the first agency to:

- legally mandate specialized review by a Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO) committee;

- enhance state and federal policies in the areas of voluntary-informed consent;

- protect health of women donating eggs for research;

- guarantee that all cell lines used by CIRM-funded researchers are derived without compensation to egg donors.

This draft reaffirms Proposition 71's prohibition of human reproductive cloning. Once ratified by the ICOC, the regulations will enter into the formal rule-making process governed by the Administrative Procedures Act and have the force of California law.

Members of the ICOC will also consider the Intellectual Property Policy for Non-Profits, as recommended by the IP Task Force last month. The draft policy surpasses federal statute on the sharing of data and biomedical materials. It also allows California research institutions to freely use all CIRM-funded patented inventions. The policy incorporates input taken from the general public and the legislature over the past four months. With ICOC's approval, the terms and conditions of the IP policy for Non-Profits will also enter into California's formal rule-making process.

The ICOC will hear a presentation, co-sponsored with the Alliance for Stem Cell Research, on Type I and Type II Diabetes at the beginning of the meeting. Presenters will include scientists Jeffrey A. Bluestone, Ph.D. and Michael S. German, M.D., both of the UCSF Diabetes Center; patients Bernadette Revak and Cole Conroy; national youth advocate Dana Lewis of the American Diabetes Association; and Francisco J. Prieto, M.D. of the ICOC.

To see the full agenda for the February 10 meeting, please visit the CIRM Web site: http://www.cirm.ca.gov/meetings/2006/02/02-10-06.asp.

WHO:

    Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee, the 29-member governing
board of the CIRM (http://www.cirm.ca.gov/icoc/pdf/Members.pdf).

    WHEN:

    FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
    8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Estimated)

    WHERE:

    Stanford University
    Arrillaga Alumni Center
    McCaw Hall
    326 Galvez Street
    Stanford, CA 94305

NOTE: Free parking is available in Galvez Field Parking & Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center. For directions, please see: http://forum.stanford.edu/visit/directions/arrillaga.

WHY:

The ICOC is responsible for the oversight and management of the CIRM, which was established in 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was approved by California voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities.