Patents Impeding Progress?

April 13, 2006

Federal funding restrictions for embryonic stem cell research are often viewed as a threat to stem cell science. But as Jennifer Washburn notes in a recent L.A. Times op-ed, the biggest obstacle for ESC research may be two powerful U.S. patents: No. 5,843,780 and No. 6,200,806.

Patents are supposed to stimulate innovation. That’s why they exist. But it appears that these two patents, held by a foundation affiliated with the University of Wisconsin, may exert a dangerous monopoly over all future research in the field — one that may pose an even greater long-term threat to stem cell science than the Bush administration’s federal funding ban.

Here’s the background. In mid-March, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF, announced that the state of California must sign a legal contract and pay user fees to the foundation if any state-funded scientists want to work with human embryonic stem cells of any kind. Yes, of any kind.

The foundation’s patents are based on the work of James Thompson, a University of Wisconsin professor who was the first scientist to isolate embryonic stem cells, in 1998. But the patents are so broad — unreasonably broad — that they cover all human embryonic stem cell lines in the U.S., not just the specific lines developed by Thompson.

Jeanne Loring, an embryologist at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, is one of many scientists who worry about the effect of this monopoly. In 1999, Loring tried to launch a company to work with stem cells, but the firm quickly collapsed when it couldn’t raise the $100,000 in upfront fees the Wisconsin foundation charged. The foundation’s commercial contracts also typically include an annual maintenance fee of $40,000 — a steep hurdle for any young company.