Not only is stem cell research the most politicised field in the history of science, it is also one of the most dauntingly complex. So while stem cells have the potential to provide therapies for a vast range of ills, it is proving hard to attract the investment needed to develop them.
Many venture capitalists make the comparison with monoclonal antibodies, which took more than 20 years to translate from basic research to marketed products. As Lutz Giebel, venture partner at SV Life Sciences in San Francisco, remarks: “The promise of monoclonal antibodies was obvious, but VCs [venture capitalists] that invested at an early stage pretty much lost their shirts”.
