Can the owner of an hESC line or the UKSCB recover costs by charging for clinical grade cell lines?
Any charging policy developed in accordance with the Code of Practice for The Use of Stem Cell Lines (CoP) is advertised on the UKSCB website. Charging for clinical grade hESC lines is acceptable under the CoP, and charges levied by the UK Stem Cell Bank are described in section 6.6. as follows: The contract between the funders and the UK Stem Cell Bank makes provision for a schedule of charges for the provision of stem cell lines to users. The Steering Committee has indicated that the charges levied will be different for academic researchers and commercial users of the Bank with commercial users expected to pay the full economic costs. It is also expected that charging for services provided by the UK Stem Cell Bank will be in line with general principles applied by funding bodies and will allow for recovery of some of the operating costs of the Bank over time. A schedule of charges has been established by the Bank, but as of December 2009, no charges other than third party shipping fe
