Trickle-down effect.WHILE not everyone agrees on the degree, San Diego's research institutions and biotechnology companies Top 100 Biotechnology Companies The following is a list of the top 100 biotechnology companies ranked by revenue. The first nine companies qualify for the list of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies. could benefit if California voters approve a $3 billion bond measure to fund embryonic stem cell Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50-150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent. research. The expenditure of $295 million a year over 10 years has the potential to attract top-notch researchers to San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and encourage companies to establish stem cell stem cell In living organisms, an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs. There are two major types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. programs. It also would capitalists to fund more programs in the controversial area. "This would be an enormous boon to San Diego," said Evan Snyder, director of stem cell research at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla La Jolla (lə hoi`yə), on the Pacific Ocean, S Calif., an uninc. district within the confines of San Diego; founded 1869. The beautiful ocean beaches, in particular La Jolla shores and Black's Beach, and sea-washed caves attract visitors and . Snyder sits on the scientific advisory board of the initiative's planned institute, which would make grants and loans available for research. If approved, the initiative would dwarf federal grants, which have been stalled at about $17 million a year for embryonic stem cell research since President Bush, citing ethical considerations, signed an executive order in August 2001 to limit funding. Snyder touts the measure as empowering the state by floating a tax-exempt, low-interest bond to fund the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was created by California's Proposition 71 (2004), which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. , which will create regulatory standards and oversight bodies for research and facilities development. Snyder sees San Diego as highly competitive given the large concentration of research institutions that include the Salk Institute, the Scripps Research Institute and the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). San Diego. But Joel Martin, a partner with Forward Ventures, a La Jolla-based venture capital firm focusing on life sciences investments, remains skeptical. "I don't think it would be a transforming event," said Martin about the initiative's claims to fuel economic growth. "It's currently not viewed as a particularly opportune op·por·tune adj. 1. Suited or right for a particular purpose: an opportune place to make camp. 2. Occurring at a fitting or advantageous time: an opportune arrival. commercial endeavor." Martin says the measure--while helpful to academic researchers--has little to offer to investors who expect a foreseeable return on their multimillion-dollar investments. It will take years of basic science to gain investors' confidence, he said. "There needs to be a lot more basic research done before we will see a product," Martin said. "The political environment put a chill on the research ... but (the initiative) will not open the floodgates in venture capital investments--at least not in the short term." --Marion Webb, San Diego Business Journal |
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