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Health Care Glaxo's Stem-Cell Bet Matthew Herper, 07.28.08, 6:00 AM ET It may be the biggest news nobody really noticed. One of the world's largest drug companies is paying directly for research on embryonic stem cells. GlaxoSmithKline (nyse: GSK - news - people ) plunked down $25 million July 24 for a five-year collaboration with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Both Glaxo and Harvard will contribute intellectual property, and they'll divvy up any discoveries based on who delivered what. Although $25 million is peanuts to Glaxo, it's equivalent to one-third the amount the Harvard Stem Cell Institute has raised from philanthropy since it started in 2004. The research will run the gamut of what's being done at Harvard, including work on all types of stem cells. Stem cells are dormant cells responsible for growth and healing in the body. Most can create only a specific type of tissue, such as blood, bone, brain or heart. Embryonic stem cells can become any kind of cell you want them to be, but can only be created from human embryos. A newly researched type of cell, so-called induced pluripotent cells, seem to be as potent as embryonic cells but can be made from adult cells. "Five years ago, pharma and biotech were staying out, because everyone thought of stem cells as therapies in and of themselves," says Brock Reeve, executive director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. "But now with the advances in basic biology, we can now use stem cells as tools to help find new drugs." When the institute was founded, deriving stem cells from embryos was still considered an ethical minefield. One benefit of starting an institute focused on stem cells was that it could help researchers raise private money when the work was too controversial to get public funding. Under a plan instituted by President George W. Bush, researchers were able to work only on embryonic stem cells derived before August 2001. And using any type of stem cells for anything seemed pretty far off. But now, stem cells of all types are being adopted as a technology that could be incredibly useful in drug discovery (see: "Stem Cells Get Real"). Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) has created a research group focused exclusively on stem cells, and has been looking at using them for some toxicology work with biotech company Cellartis. The same tiny biotech is working with AstraZeneca (nyse: AZN - news - people ). James Thomson, who derived the first human embryonic stem cells a decade ago, co-founded a biotech that is collaborating with Roche (other-otc: RHHBY.PK - news - people ) to uncover why some cancer drugs have negative side effects on the heart. "Big pharma has largely remained on the sidelines over the last 10 years," says Thomson. But Glaxo's investment "is more evidence that pharma's involvement is now changing. I suspect will see other companies starting to make similarly significant investments in this area soon." Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn