Policies
Stem Cells for Safer Medicines has a number of policies whose objectives are to:
- Support the objective of the collaboration to enable the creation of open standards and protocols and banks of stem cells that can be used in early safety screening of new medicines.
- Encourage engagement of third parties, including biotechnology companies
- Provide a clear ethical framework in which the collaboration will operate, that reflects broad stakeholder views and takes account of emerging scientific knowledge.
The current policies, which will be regularly reviewed are:
- Ethics Policy
An independent Ethics Review Board will be established in early 2008 to review the policy, especially in light of the developing long-term scientific programme. - IPR Policy
The IPR policy is intended to balance the needs of smaller technology companies and encourage their participation and the objectives of the collaboration to create open standards and protocols. The policy also reflects the not-for-profit objectives of the collaboration. Project Agreements should be consistent with the IPR Policy, although alternative approaches may be considered for special reasons, such as for technology companies. Any deviation from the principles laid out in the IPR policy need to be approved by the Company’s Board. It should be noted that the IPR policy itself is not a legally binding document, nor does it set out the terms of a contractual offer to any person.
