Access may complicate stem cell study

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Medical Unit

Although President Bush has authorized federal funding for research on 60 existing stem cell lines, some say getting access to them could pose challenges.

The National Institutes of Health is expected to hold a series of meetings this week with groups holding patents to human embryonic stem cell lines.

BresaGen, an Australian company, told CNN it will meet with NIH officials for two hours on Wednesday. The biotech company says it holds patent rights to four of the 60 stem cell lines.

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The NIH says it will be meeting with the University of Wisconsin group that holds a patent on five stem cell lines its scientists derived. Many of the rest of the lines are held by other companies in Singapore, Sweden and India, according to United States government officials.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has said he's confident that access to the lines won't be an issue.

"They're willing to cooperate in any way possible to allow this research to go ahead," he said.

But some researchers and bioethicists say that's easier said than done.

"I think we're going to really have a problem here in fulfilling what Tommy Thompson promised, what George Bush promised," said Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania. "And that was that what's out there is enough."

Scientists and advocacy groups believe stem cell research could help find cures for debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

But Caplan says access to many of the stem cells will be determined by companies that have invested heavily in stem cell research and technology, and have their own commercial interests in mind.

The University of Wisconsin team says its primary concern is to provide "research to researchers around the world."

BresaGen officials say they, too, are eager to cooperate.

The federal government has yet to announce how much money will be allocated for stem cell research and how researchers will apply and qualify for the funds.

The complexities of funding, some say, are even more challenging than access issues to the stem cell lines -- and working out the details could take months.