Singling out Genentech for high praise, British Prime Minister Tony Blair sat down with a group of biotech execs in San Francisco yesterday to highlight his own commitment to boosting Britain's drug development industry. In a marked break with the Bush administration, Blair also emphasized the need for more research work in embryonic stem cells. A number of British biotech officials feel their country's research groups have stolen a march on the U.S., pushing ahead while stem cell work in the U.S. founders under a federal policy that severely restricts funding in the field. Executives from Gilead Sciences, Entelos, PDL BioPharma, StemCells, Cell Genesys and Amylin Pharmaceuticals met with the prime minister.
- check out the report from the San Jose Mercury News for more information