Stem cell sticker shock; Bush fund restrictions rachet up biotech costs
BYLINE: By JAY FITZGERALD
Local researchers say they're wasting millions of dollars buying duplicative lab equipment - from expensive microscopes to pens and pencils - in order to comply with President Bush's funding restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research.
Researchers are so nervous about getting audited by the feds that they've resorted to putting stickers on lab equipment - green for ``approved'' and red for ``not approved'' - to indicate whether they can use an item that may have been paid for in the past with National Institute of Health funds.
The redundant expenses and bureaucratic hassles have a direct impact on the ability of life science institutions to operate efficiently in the Bay State, which some observers say will increasingly rely on stem cell research to help keep the state economically competitive.
``It's an enormous waste of funds and resources,'' said B.D. Colen, a spokesman for Cambridge's Harvard Stem Cell Institute, which is now using private funds to pay for embryonic stem cell research not sanctioned by Bush's 2001 presidential order.
``We have stickers on equipment and everything,'' said Colen. ``It's literally down to pens and pencils (that have to be accounted for). . . . We'll have equipment side by side, one with a green sticker and one with a red sticker.''
``The situation is crazy,'' said Dr. Leonard Zon, who heads Children's Hospital's stem cell program in Boston. ``There's no reason to waste so much.''
Under Bush's order, no federal funds can be used for research on human embryonic stem cells that weren't approved by the president as of April 9, 2001.
Supporters of the president's move say the issue is about protecting the integrity of human life. Critics say the funding restrictions hamper research on potential breakthrough medical cures and weaken research efforts in general by draining away funds for redundant purposes.
A spokesman for the National Institutes of Health last week would only provide a copy of presidential guidelines that say federal funds cannot be used ``directly or indirectly'' on nonapproved stemcell research.
As a result, researchers say they can't use lab items on nonsanctioned stem cells if they were paid for via prior NIH grants.
So researchers have to go out and buy new lab equipment with private money if they want to study certain cells - even if they already own the same lab equipment.
At a Harvard Stem Cell Institute lab in Cambridge, researchers have two Cryostat machines sitting side by side. One has a green sticker that reads ``Approved for all heSC research'' and the other has a red sticker that reads ``Not approved for ineligible hESC research,'' a reference to human embryonic stem cells.
Each Cryostat costs about $35,000.
But they're not the only duplicative pieces of equipment that researchers have had to go out and buy.
New microscopes, incubators, ventilation hoods, freezers, liquid nitrogen cylinders and other expensive items have to be purchased with private funds if researchers work on nonsanctioned cells.
At Children's Hospital, a financial manager, with a salary of about $50,000, has been hired just to keep expenses straight in case the hospital is audited by federal agents.
``The key is tracking the dollars,'' said Zon.
Unlike the Harvard institute, Children's doesn't keep track of pens and pencils purchased for nonapproved stem cell research. But it does monitor the funding for its small plastic pipettes (similar to straws) that are used to transfer liquids from one vial to the next.
No exact dollar amounts were available on what duplicative expenses are incurred as a result of the restrictions. But researchers say it runs in the million of dollars.
``I think we'll look back on this in five or 10 years and say, `This is absurd,' '' said Stan McGee, policy chief for Daniel O'Connell, Gov. Deval Patrick's secretary of housing and economic development.
McGee said federal funding restrictions partially explain why Patrick - who has recently pushed for more stem cell research in Massachusetts - is supporting the use of state capital funds to help institutions buy necessary lab equipment. That plan is part of Patrick's recent proposal to spend $1 billion over the next 10 years to promote the life sciences in Massachusetts.