By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
MADISON — Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday unveiled pieces of Grow Wisconsin 2005 and said he will keep using state funding to jump-start fledging stem cell companies, in spite of attempts in the Legislature to ban therapeutic cloning.
To back up that pledge up, he delivered a check for $2 million to Cellular Dynamics International, a biotech company co-founded this year by UW-Madison stem cell pioneer James Thomson.
The governor also used the occasion to tout Grow Wisconsin 2005, which he said will upgrade the state’s economy and produce more high-tech jobs.
If a therapeutic cloning ban reaches his desk, Doyle promised to veto it. The Assembly has passed the legislation and the Senate plans to take it up this week.
"I hope the Senate will reject this extreme measure," he said. "We have a great opportunity in this state to help cure incurable
diseases through stem cell research. That is a wonderful. Passing restrictive laws that limits research does not help."
Mark Green, one of Doyle’s two declared Republican opponents, said at a WisPolitics.com luncheon at the Madison Club he does not support the use of taxpayer dollars to fund stem cell research.
"I’m definitely not opposed to stem cell research," Green said. "I support the vast majority of stem cell research. But I don’t support the use of public dollars, taxpayer dollars to destroy human life in pursuit of stem cell research."
He didn’t specifically endorse so-called “anti-cloning” legislation coming before the state Senate, but he noted he has supported an anti-human cloning bill in Congress. He said the regulation of stem cells poses “tough questions” and wondered why the governor had not outlined guidelines on research he could not accept.
Thomson said the bill now in the Legislature would not directly affect CDI’s work, but he said it could have a chilling effect on stem
cell research in the state.
"It could make it harder to retain and recruit scientists because there is the perception out there that the state does not support
science," he said.
"I have to recruit post-doctoral students while Wisconsin is trying to pass restrictive laws," he said. "At the same time, California
and other states are making large investments in this area."
Thomson thanked Doyle for the state financing and said he hopes that CDI will lead the way for other stem cell companies in the Badger State.
"I hope the legacy of CDI will be in that it demonstrates it is possible to set up a successful, profitable stem cell company in
Wisconsin," he said.
Later in the day, Doyle went to Milwaukee where he unveiled a $3 million package of tax credits to help revitalize the 148-acre Tower Automotive site, which once was home to nearly 8,000 industrial jobs.
On Tuesday, he was scheduled to go to Two Rivers and Sheboygan Falls to talk about his proposals to improve the state’s overall business climate through a broad package of investments and tax incentives.
Doyle said the state money for Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) — divided equally between a grant and loan — would be leveraged with $4 million in other funding to create more than 30 high-paying jobs.
The company, which is based at University Research Park on Madison’s west side, will test new drug candidates on human embryonic stem cells.
Though backers predict that stem cell research may eventually lead to cures for diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and other ailments, critics say that day is far in the future.
Thomson and Doyle predicted CDI would be the first company to make a profit by developing a product from stem cell research.
That is because CDI co-founder Dr. Craig January has developed a screen to help weed out drugs that have negative side effects on patients before they are tried on animals or humans. The company’s first lines of screening services will center on improving the cardiac safety of new drugs.
CDI was founded earlier this year with the backing of Tactics II Ventures LP, a Wisconsin-based venture capital firm. Its principals, Bob and Tom Palay, are founders of Madison based NimbleGen Systems and Genetic Assemblies. Nick Seay, a long-time Madison biotech patent attorney, is the chief operating officer.
Thomson said CDI’s technologies mean that for the first time, researchers will have the opportunity to test new drug candidates on live human cells, which should improve the safety and effectiveness of new drugs.
Thomson said the technology could reduce the need to use research animals in drug development and minimize the number of toxic reactions only discovered once new drugs are tested in patients.
