With widespread expectation that the Obama administration will lift restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research, those already conducting that work in Connecticut believe the state is in prime position to benefit from a new funding source for their research.
Obama has indicated he will ease restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, which is already being performed in Connecticut thanks to a 10-year, $100 million commitment from the state that started in 2006 and has awarded $10 million in grants each year since.
Marc Lalande, director of the University of Connecticut’s Stem Cell Core, said he expects the Obama administration will also increase investments in the National Institutes of Health.
“If we didn’t have that state money, we would not be competitive for federal grants if there is increased funding,” Lalande said.
Connecticut’s head start in embryonic stem cell research gained attention last week when UConn announced the creation of two new embryonic stem cell lines available to researchers. Though other research universities around the country have created embryonic stem cell lines, these are much younger than most — making them more valuable, according to the university.
Despite the excitement surrounding stem cell research and the new possibilities under the Obama administration, grant applications for 2009, which were submitted to the state in December, totaled just over $30 million, about $10 million less than in 2008.
Tough Competition
Yale University requested $9 million. The University of Connecticut and the UConn Health Center requested $17.7 million, and Wesleyan University and the University of Hartford asked for a combined $1.1 million.
Three years into the grant awards, the state has shown it still opposes funding research from private companies. After just one company applied for a grant in 2006 — the first year the grants were awarded — seven companies applied for a combined $7.5 million in funding in 2008. The Vernon-based Evergen Technologies was the only company to win funding, receiving $900,000.
Only two companies applied this year, including New Haven-based CellDesign, which unsuccessfully applied for grants last year. This time around though, founder John Hambor has partnered with a Yale professor in submitting a $1.4 million grant application.
“We realized going at this as a standalone company, there’s a very slim chance we’re going to get funding,” said Hambor, adding that the Yale professor is a mitochondria expert. “This fits with the charge for the stem cell money to diversify funding into areas that are typically not just stem cell research.”
When it comes to resources and infrastructure, small companies can hardly compete with the state’s major research universities, Lalande said.
“The companies are competing with universities that have research infrastructure in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Lalande said. “If you’re a small company, it makes it more difficult to compete because you don’t have the same infrastructure.”
Investing Time
Lalande said UConn’s stem cell operations have had talks with several companies about writing joint proposals but have encountered numerous roadblocks along the way.
“It takes an investment of time and personnel, and the companies may not be in a good position to do that,” Lalande said. “You have to find the right match.”
Just three years into the funding, Haifan Lin, director of the Yale Stem Cell Center, believes it is still too early for companies to make a legitimate play for state money. Within a few years, though, he expects the commercial base will grow, pointing out one of the reasons for creating the fund was to synergize the efforts of biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
“In just two or three years, it’s already been happening,” Lin said.
“That’s the hope,” said Paul Pescatello, president of Connecticut United for Research Excellence, the state’s life science cluster. “Most of the company applications will come more toward the end of the 10-year program.”
