Voice of Regenerative Medicine : Voice of Regenerative Medicine (VORM). CIRM Board Hijacks Prop 71 by Issuing Exclusive Unlawful Reprogramming Adult Cell Initiatives/RFAs and Forcing Unethical and Defective Products to Endanger Public Health

Monday, May 7, 2012

Voice of Regenerative Medicine (VORM). CIRM Board Hijacks Prop 71 by Issuing Exclusive Unlawful Reprogramming Adult Cell Initiatives/RFAs and Forcing Unethical and Defective Products to Endanger Public Health

Voice of Regenerative Medicine (VORM). California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) board abuses authority to hijack Proposition71 (Prop71) by issuing 3 consecutive unlawful reprogramming adult cell/induced pluripotent somatic cell (iPS cell) initiatives/RFAs 12-02, 12-03, and 12-04, which exclude human embryonic stem cell research and therapy development that the law protect, force CIRM board members’ unlawful human cloning interest onto California consumers, and scam the public with unethical, defective, and non-viable products of large businesses harbored by CIRM board members.

Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research and therapy is a new forefront in Regenerative Medicine made possible by California Stem Cell Research & Cure Bond Act (Prop71) to develop the next generation of cell based therapeutic solutions for many major health problems. However, so far, CIRM has doled out $ZERO of Prop71 funds to develop better and more affordable hESC therapies and cures of Prop71 for patients suffering from incurable diseases. Prop71 has been the only source of government funding protected by law for derivation and banking of clinically-suitable hESC lines. Despite available new technologies and scientific advances for derivation of clinical grade hESC lines and their functional progenies for therapies, CIRM has been withholding Prop71 funds from hESC research in urgent need of funding, impeding life-saving stem cell therapy development, blocking and delaying the mission of Prop71, and putting millions of patients’ life at risk. Despite public outcry, CIRM board continues to defy the law and issue 3 consecutive unlawful iPS/reprogramming adult cell initiatives/RFAs to exclusively serve the financial conflicts of interest of big institutes and large drug development companys of CIRM board members. CIRM board ignores mounting scientific evidences on that iPS cells/reprogramming adult cells/genetically-engineered cells are abnormal, aging fast, low efficiency, not transplantable/graftable, useless & dangerous for clinical use for patients, and waste of public funds. Reprogramming/genetically-engineering adult cells have no ethical issue of hESCs to prevent them from receiving Federal funding. In fact, reprogramming/genetically-engineering adult cells have been funded by large program/center grants/awards from National Institutes of Health (NIH) and large investment from drug development companys, such as Pfizer and Genentech. Such conflict of interest CIRM RFAs do not have any scientific merits of Prop71 and ethical/financial issues for CIRM board members to make consecutive unlawful demanding to divert funds from Prop71 to their large institutes/businesses to duplicate or supplant their existing funding. Such conflict of interest RFAs determined by CIRM board members only serve the financial conflicts of interest of large institutes and drug development companys of CIRM board members; block vital, better, and affordable new stem cell therapy development of Prop71; force unethical, defective, and non-viable products of large businesses onto consumers; and endanger public health; violating ethical & scientific conduct codes and the United States antitrust law. VORM condemns CIRM board members’ such unlawful and unethical acts; urges CIRM to issue RFAs for derivation and banking of clinical grade hESC lines and their functional progenies for stem cell therapy development; and urges CIRM to follow the law and scientific merits of Prop71 to give funding from California Stem Cell Research and Cure Bond Act to human embryonic stem cell research and therapy development of Prop71.

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Public Interest

The successful derivation of human embryonic stem cell (human ES cell) lines from the in vitro fertilization (IVF) leftover embryos is considered as one of the major breakthroughs of the life sciences. The pluripotent human ES cells, derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) or epiblast of human blastocyst or human embryos, have both the unconstrained capacity for long-term stable undifferentiated growth in culture and the intrinsic potential for differentiation into all somatic cell types in the human body, holding tremendous potential for human tissue and function restoration. Therefore, human ES cells have been regarded as an ideal source to provide an unlimited supply of large-scale well-characterized human specialized cell types for cell-based therapies to resolve some worldwide major health problems, such as neurodegenerative diseases, paralysis, diabetes, and heart diseases. A small portion of the millions of excess embryos currently stored in the IVF clinics worldwide, which are otherwise destined for destruction, could potentially be an unlimited source to deliver in the future a whole range of therapeutic treatments for tissue and function restoration in patients with life-threatening diseases and injuries. However, human ES cell research has generated intense public interest as well as controversy due to concerns of products of human ES cell cultures that can only be obtained by the use, involving their destruction, of human embryos. The recent years’ court battles on Federal funding for human ES cell research in the United State (US) as well as the patentability of US and international patents directed to human ES cell technologies have also highlighted the decade long ethical, moral, social, and legal controversy surrounding the public interest of human ES cells involving destruction, commercial or industrial uses of human embryos. As neurodegenerative and heart diseases incur exorbitant costs on the healthcare system worldwide, there is a strong focus on providing newer and more efficient solutions for these therapeutic needs. Millions of people are pinning their hopes on human ES cell research. California voters have passed Proposition 71 to designate $3B public fund to support pluripotent human ES cell research and therapy development for the benefit of public health. In spite of ethical debates surrounding the ownership and funding issues of human ES cells, in the case of many incurable or hitherto untreatable life-threatening or devastating diseases, supporting human ES cell research is crucial to driving the advance of medicine to provide optimal regeneration and reconstruction treatment options to improve the function, wellness, and overall quality of life. To answer the intense public interest surrounding human ES cell research and enormous public healthcare benefits thereof, Voice of Regenerative Medicine provides a ground of public debate or voice or blog for the controversies surrounding public interest of human ES cells centering on scientific, economic, ethical, moral, social, financial conflict of interest, and legal issues, to increase public awareness and understanding of the scientific advancement of human ES cell research, and of the importance, urgency, and tangible benefits of human ES cell-based regenerative medicine to improving the function, wellness, and overall quality of life for patients suffering from incurable or hitherto untreatable life-threatening or devastating diseases; to increase public support for human ES cell research; to improve policy making and funding situation for human ES cell research, and to identify and disclose publicly those scientific, economic, ethical, moral, social, financial conflict of interest, and legal issues that have impeded the progress of human ES cell research and stem cell therapy development, introduction of medical innovations and new business opportunities based on human ES cell research, and bringing new therapeutics into the market.

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