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From: LEXIS/NEXIS News database: United Press International August 10, 2001, Friday 07:03 PM Eastern Time SECTION: GENERAL NEWS HEADLINE: Federal stem cell grants coming next year DATELINE: BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 10 "Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and National Institutes of Health officials said Friday at least 60 lines of embryonic stem cells will be available for use under basic federal research grants by early next year. Thompson, in a news conference at NIH headquarters, said agency officials have begun work on a registry or database of the cell lines, as well as the procedures under which researchers can apply for grants to study them. "These lines are diverse, robust and viable for research," Thompson said. "We have great confidence that these existing lines will provide for effective, productive research. We don't expect any grants to be made until next calendar year at the earliest, but we expect those grants to be given out very quickly then." "... The stem cell lines will come with a transfer agreement covering the eventual commercialization of promising research, Greenwood (senior vice president for Geron Corp.,which funded the initial embryonic stem cell research done at the University of Wisconsin in 1998), told UPI, so it is likely some type of royalty will have to be paid to the stem cell line holders." " The issues of commercial applications, patents and intellectual property could be sticking points in getting the registry and grants to work. " "... Dr. Lana Skirboll, associate director for science policy at NIH, said the registry will be publicly available and include both scientific data on the cell lines and contact information on the parties holding them. The registry's information also will help determine which lines are best suited for research, she said, and the grant process should help ensure the most promising lines remain within the financial means of all researchers." "... Greenwood said he hopes NIH's registry work will not start from scratch, ignoring the 18 months of study it did prior to issuing stem cell research guidelines in 2000, and put out the additional instructions as soon as possible so research can begin." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn