American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 
Statement In Support Of Stem Cell Research 
Approved by ASPET Council, February 25, 1999 

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) supports the Department of Health and Human Services decision to permit federal funds to be used for research utilizing human pluripotent stem cells. ASPET supports plans by the National Institutes of Health to develop rigorous guidelines and oversight on the conduct of stem cell research. Denying federal support for stem cell research will still allow for its continuation in the private sector. Allowing for federal support will help ensure the proper oversight by government agencies, particularly the National Institutes of Health. 

Stem cell research will make contributions to our understanding of developmental biology, transplantation medicine, and pharmaceutical research. Research on human stem cells may lead to the discovery of improved treatments for Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases. The use of stem cells in research holds great promise in the research and development of novel drug and other therapeutic agents fighting diseases. 

Stem cell research technology would allow researchers to produce unlimited quantities of normal human differentiated cells in vitro. The ability to produce and supply unlimited quantities of human cells of various tissue types would have major implications for pharmaceutical research and development. For example, further research into pluripotent stem cells can change the way we develop drugs and how we test them for safety. 

Stem cell research would allow for the development of cellular models of human disease that could be developed for use in drug development. For example, rather than evaluating the safety and efficacy of candidate drugs in animal models or abnormal transformed human cells, the drugs could be initially tested against a normal human cell line. Laboratory cultures of human cells could be used for highly specific drug screening, testing and drug toxicology studies. This would be more efficient and accurate than current testing and extrapolation taken from testing on animal tissues. Allowing for greater efficiencies in new drug development means more effective new and cost effective medicines getting to patients faster. Cell lines could be developed for screening drugs that cause birth defects; and brain neurons from stem cells could be engineered to develop the characteristics of Alzheimer’s or other neurological diseases and used to discover effective drug treatments. 

ASPET supports the Department of Health and Human Services decision to provide oversight and support for this important research that will provide new opportunities to treat our most intractable, deadly, and costly diseases.