Advanced Cell Technology California

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First stem cell firm comes to state
By David MorrillALAMEDA, BUSINESS WRITER

ADVANCED Cell Technology isn't a biotechnology giant. It only employs about 40 people, has a market value of $46.1 million, and its shares currently trade over-the-counter at about $2.
But the spotlight was on the company Tuesday at its grand opening. Local and state officials lauded Advanced Cell Technology as the first stem cell research firm to relocate its headquarters to California from out of state since voters passed the stem cell research initiative Proposition 71 in 2004.

"We came to California from Massachusetts because it allows us to be in an environment that we really believe will be the center or hub of this industry segment for the next 10 years," said William Caldwell, chief executive of Advanced Cell Technology. "We feel California provides more opportunities than Massachusetts because it not only provides an openness to do the research, but they are also funding that opportunity."Advanced Cell's new 15,000 square-foot headquarters at 1201 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda were formerly used by Avigen Inc., which also has its headquarters on Harbor Bay Parkway.

"It's really exciting to have a company on the cutting edge of science technology relocating its headquarters here in Alameda," said Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson. "I fully expect that now that Advanced Cell is located here, more companies will follow them into this region."

California state Treasurer Phil Angelides, a gubernatorial candidate, called the move "a signal of the kinds of things we need to do in this state in the 21st century to be the home of science, stem cell research and innovation."

The proposition allocates $3 billion in funds over 10 years for stem cell research in the state. But the funding has been held up by two lawsuits currently being heard in Alameda County Superior Court.

The fate of the funds, however, won't necessarily spell doom for Advanced Cell Technology.

"From the financial part of our business plan, we have allocated no money from Prop. 71," Caldwell said. "Rather we see Prop. 71 as an opportunity to develop collaborations that will fund basic research and utilize a lot of the data that we've developed over the last five or six years."

Most of the money Advanced Cell uses comes from being a publicly traded company

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Biotech firm relocates to Alameda
By Kara Andrade and George Avalos
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

ALAMEDA - In a move credited to California's stem cell initiative, a biotechnology company has moved its headquarters from Massachusetts to this city, bringing with it a dozen jobs to a burgeoning biotech cluster on the island.

Advanced Cell Technology, which applies stem cell technology to regenerative medicine -- technologies that repair or replace diseased or defective tissues or organs -- will hold an official announcement about the move today at its new 15,000-square-foot facility on Harbor Bay Parkway.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for Alameda and the Bay Area," said Eric Fonspein, who works in the city's Development Services Department. "It reasserts our global leadership in (the) life-science industry."

The company moved from Worcester, Mass., to tap the resources that could be made available through the Proposition 71 stem cell funding measure. But Advanced Cell's relocation to the East Bay comes at a time when two lawsuits have imperiled the future of embryonic stem cell research. The lawsuits seek to scrap the law that created the California Institute of Regenerative Research. Prop. 71 empowered the institute to bestow $3 billion in research grants related to stem cell technology.

Bill Caldwell, CEO of Advanced Cell Technology, however, said he believes Prop. 71 stands a good chance to remain largely intact despite the litigation lodged against it.

"Ordinarily, litigation against initiatives does not preclude most of these propositions from going into effect and proceeding with what the voters authorized," Caldwell said. "And in the case of Prop. 71, I understand that the judge in this case has set the bar pretty high for the plaintiffs to overturn the stem cell proposition."

What's more, Advanced Cell has not arrived in California expecting to harvest funds from the proposition.

"Our business plan does not depend on actual money coming in from Prop. 71," Caldwell said. "But we hope we can collaborate with some of the research institutions to make progress in areas where we lack resources."