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HYPERLINK "http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2003/01/06/rtr837943.html"htt p://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2003/01/06/rtr837943.html Drug firms plead case for therapy amid cloning row Reuters, 01.06.03, 9:05 AM ET HYPERLINK "http://ads.forbes.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/forbes.com/technology/ reuters/story/id837943/731595356/Block/IBM_Linux_Window_ClevelMid_02120/ IBMlinuxWINclevel.html/34343233366633633365316163633230?http://ad.double click.net/jump/N815.forbes/B1093176.2;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=336x280;ord=7 31595356?"Alt Text By Ben Hirschler, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Drug companies pioneering the use of stem cells to treat incurable diseases are pleading the case for cloning research amid a furore over claims by the Raelian UFO sect to have created two cloned babies. Industry leaders fear an ill-informed backlash against all cloning would jeopardise research into novel ways of treating serious illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. "It may swing opinion strongly to doing something urgently about reproductive cloning, which we would have no problem with," Simon Best, chairman of the U.S. Biotechnology Industry Organisation's bioethics committee, said on Monday. "But in the U.S. this is a very political issue and it may add weight to efforts to reintroduce legislation in the Senate banning all types of cloning, and that would be a concern," he told Reuters. Best, the chief executive of Scotland's Ardana Biosciences, believes it will be many weeks before the world learns whether cloning claims made by the Raelian movement, which believes the human race was created by aliens, are anything more than a publicity stunt. But there is a risk that public alarm will bury the distinction between reproductive cloning -- making babies that are genetically identical to another individual -- and therapeutic cloning, in which embryos are created so scientists can mine them for stem cells. "Those who don't know the difference will tar it all with the same brush... I think there is going to be a bit of a negative backlash," said Larissa Thomas, a biotechnology industry analyst with Canaccord Capital in London. EARLY STAGE Stem cells, the so-called master cells of the body, have been hailed as a potential medical breakthrough because of their ability, in theory, to replace damaged tissue. They could, one day, be used to patch up damaged heart muscle following heart attacks or to form new neurons in the brains of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's patients. For diabetics, stem cells may be a source of new islet cells in the pancreas. But the technology remains at a very early stage and companies in the field have suffered a series of setbacks which has seen their shares take a tumble in the last two years. Trevor Jones, chairman of Europe's first listed stem cell company, ReNeuron Holdings Plc <REN.L>, thinks it will be five years before the first treatment is available, initially for a rare condition like Huntingdon's disease, with treatments for more common conditions following only later. In addition to proving stem cell therapy works, companies also need to assure regulators like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that they can make uniform and safe batches. Stem cells may well trigger the same rejection problems evident in kidney or heart transplants, while their uncontrolled proliferation would spell cancer. One option is to use cloning technology to produce stem cells tailored to the genetic profile of an individual. But this is likely to be very costly and is not the only way forward. Other possibilities include harvesting stem cells from aborted foetuses or even adults. "The critical thing is that research is allowed to continue on all the possible methods because the potential benefits are so large," said Best. NEED FOR CLEAR RULES Any further clampdown on cloning in the United States, where strict limits on federal funding were imposed in 2001, could play into the hands of Britain, which already has clear rules banning reproductive cloning but allowing therapeutic research. The UK's Medical Research Council announced plans last August to establish a stem cell bank that will contain adult, foetal and embryonic stem cells in a move that is expected to accelerate the pace of research. ReNeuron's Jones, who is also director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, argues that clear-cut regulations are the way forward. "We already have that in the UK and I would like to see it applied more widely, which would then allow the respectability of independent research into treatment without the spectre of human cloning constantly in our sights," he said. Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.434 / Virus Database: 243 - Release Date: 12/25/2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn