Senator calls for transparency in stem cell investment

Australians needed to know who was likely to make their fortune through stem cells in order to prioritise information from scientists who may have a vested interest in the research, the Senate has heard.

National Party Senator Ron Boswell said there had been no public discussion on the money side of embryo research.

Boswell said companies such as ES Cell International, BresaGen, Maccine, CopyRat and IngenKO, which obviously supported stem cell research, were also set to gain financially.

"Imagine debating a bill that could make a select group millionaires but not identifying who those people might be or ascertaining whether it is just that they should so profit," Boswell told the Senate this week.

"Imagine if the potential millionaires were the primary source of information on the issue and no one knew of their vested interest.

"We must not let the promise of miracles blind us to our duties as legislators to scrutinise, to check and to know as much as possible about the stakeholders in this issue."

Boswell went on to suggest Richmond Football Club could be involved in cloning to "breed a gene team" because Australian Securities and Investment Commission documents revealed several current and former Tigers players were investors in ES Cell International.

"This is a world of high finance, patents, trades and deals where monopolies on human genes are traded like football hero cards, only the stakes are much higher," he said.

Boswell said the community needed greater transparency to see who held stakes in these companies and where the money for the research was coming from.

The CEO of ES Cell International, Robert Klupacs, was overseas and unavailable for comment.

But a statement from the company said that in the business of developing therapeutic products from stem cells it needed significant private investment.

It also said the Australian government was actively supporting the biotechnology industry through its recognition of the importance of attracting overseas investment into Australia.

"At this stage, we do not wish to make any further comment," the statement said.

The ABC quoted Stem Cell Sciences chief executive Peter Mountford as saying that some scientists did have fundamental conflicts by investing in research companies.

"It's essential that there's absolute transparency in who is benefiting from this type of research," Mountford said. "Most important (is that) academics are willing to declare their interest and who is benefiting and how they are benefiting."