A month after Gov. Deval Patrick announced a planned billion-dollar funding initiative to bolster stem cell research in Massachusetts, the local research community is still awaiting details. But a representative of the governor’s office stopped by a symposium today at the law firm of Nixon Peabody today to give some hints. Jon Mahoney, industry director of life sciences for the commonwealth, said that the legislation will include gap funding for pre-profitable companies, tax credits, and expedited permitting for new facilities. And he noted that the $1 billion was intended not just for stem cell research but also for regenerative medicine and gene therapy. The aim of the legislation, which Mahoney said he hoped would be passed by the end of the month, is to make Massachusetts “the most business-friendly, research-friendly state in the country.” (Mahoney also singled out Kendall Square as “the greatest two square miles of life sciences companies in the world.” We at Xconomy think he’s on to something there.)
While some in the room, including Xconomist and Children’s Hospital researcher Willy Lensch, seemed eager to hear how they could get their hands on a cut of the cash, others were less sanguine about the prospect of states stepping in where the federal government has feared to tread. Ronald Eisenstein, a partner at Nixon Peabody, warned that taking state money is “very much like going to a loan shark instead of your local bank. The state, in giving you this money, wants to be your partner.” Joseph Hammang, senior director of science policy and public affairs for Pfizer, said that sate funding initiatives will be a threat to innovation so long as state legislators try to “stick their hands in the till” with claw-back clauses and other conditions. “They will kill innovation before they even get it funded if they can’t make the investment and stand back and let it happen,” Hammang said.
