Signing the agreement to establish the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine are, from left, Douglas Bingham, executive v.p. and COO of The Scripps Research Institute; Richard Murphy, president and CEO of the Salk Institute; Marye Anne Fox, UCSD chancellor; and John Reed, president and CEO of Burnham Institute for Medical Research Institute.

Using the understated elegance of The Lodge at Torrey Pines as a backdrop, four pre-eminent San Diego research institutions have announced a new partnership in stem cell research. Leaders from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego have inked an agreement establishing the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

Regenerative medicine refers to the ability of stem cells to multiply and become specific cell types that can repair and replace tissue damaged by disease or injury.

UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Richard Murphy, chief executive of the Salk Institute, say many details must be determined including: whether the consortium will need its own new building, governing structure, funding needs, technology transfer and intellectual property rights.

Technology transfer refers to the process of making public use of know-how or technology developed under research and development programs. UCSD officials already are looking at properties, says Fox, who declined to offer specifics except that the facility will have to be convenient to consortium partners, who are all located in the Torrey Pines area.

Consortium leaders also must decide on whether to dedicate a political arm toward lobbying the federal government to lift its ban on federal funding for most embryonic stem cell research.

The effort will focus initially on dealing with lawsuits that have held up $3 billion in state funding for stem cell research approved by voter initiative last year. Murphy says he does not expect the lawsuits to go on indefinitely, believing the money will be available in the next year. Regardless, the consortium will still have to raise private funds if only to match state money set aside specifically for facilities development.

The state pot for facilities is $300 million dollars and it is unclear how much of that will go to San Diego.

“We’re thinking big,” says John Reed, president and CEO of the Burnham Institute. “The consortium should be very attractive to scientists, colleges and local investors,” says Fox.

— Catherine Hockmuth