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Former drugs tsar to head new stem cell body; Macauley leads Branson foundation

The Sunday Herald, September 18, 2005

A FORMER drugs tsar has become chief executive of the Richard Branson-backed UK Stem Cell Foundation which aims to raise pounds-100 million to develop stem cell research commercially.

David Macauley was the first director of Scotland Against Drugs, a public/private initiative set up in 1996. He went on to work as a business strategy adviser in the private sector and took up his new post last week.

Simon Best, the founder of Scottish bioscience firm Ardana which lists on the London Stock Exchange this week, has also been installed as chairman of the stem cell advisory board that will ensure best practice is followed.

The UK Stem Cell Foundation is the brain-child of Sir Chris Evans, one of Europe's leading biotechnology venture capitalists. Evans believes that Britain is in danger of losing its world leadership in this research because there is not enough funding to take projects from the laboratories into pre-clinical trials and eventually into the patient network.

Macauley's first task will be to orchestrate donations and grants from wealthy individuals, philanthropic organisations, leading corporations and government agencies such as Scottish Enterprise. Evans confirmed that the foundation was also in ongoing talks with the UK government to lend its support both financially and in other ways.

The not-for-profit foundation is already being supported by a prominent list of trustees, including billionaire Branson and ex-chairman of GlaxoSmithKline Sir Richard Sykes, who have committed "multimillions". The foundation, which has applied for charitable status, recently sent a letter to Microsoft founder Bill Gates urging him to contribute.

Macauley, who co-founded technology transfer firm Scottish Biomedical, told the Sunday Herald that he also plans to target the budgets set aside by companies for corporate social responsibility projects.

While businessmen such as M&S chief executive Stuart Rose have personally endorsed the project, it remains to be seen whether a corporation would align itself commercially with such an ethically-charged scientific field.

Stem cells have the ability to divide and produce different cell types under certain conditions. They are found in human embryos less than a week old, and also in adult bone marrow and other tissues. Scientists believe they may be able to replace damaged cells and rebuild tissue in patients using stem cells, helping with a range of conditions from cardiac disease to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Macauley said: "The therapies we're talking about are for diseases that are currently incurable and that have a real connection with the public.

There are treatments that we can get into clinics within a couple years and that could be helping patients in a couple of years after that.

"Most large organisations have a philanthropic side to them. It's not just about making a profit. You have to take care of employees and have a larger social responsibility. We are going to tap into that."

While the foundation believes the more controversial embryonic stem cells are an important part of the research, it is likely that the early projects it funds will use adult stem cells. A rigorous structure involving both business leaders and scientists is being put in place to ensure the best projects are picked and the ethics debated.

Royalties will be taken from any successful venture and funnelled back into the foundation.

Britain is in the vanguard since the regulatory framework has allowed the creation of cloned human and animals embryos to produce stem cells for therapeutic purposes.

However other countries are making advances and have access to more capital.

Macauley warned that there could be a real economic loss for the UK and Scotland if scientists and companies head for other countries to find funding. "I would like to see high level jobs and the headquarters of these stem cell companies based in the UK, " he said.

The state of California alone recently committed dollars-300m a year for the next 10 years for stem cell research. In comparison, the UK government spends around pounds-40m.

by Julia Fields