Wednesday, October 17, 2012

California Stem Cell Agency Boosting Disease Team Program to $543 Million

Directors of the California stem cell agency are set to give away $20 million next Thursday and authorize a handsome addition to their signature disease team effort, bringing its total to $543 million.

It is all part of the $3 billion agency's push to develop therapies prior to running out of money for new grants in 2017.

The $20 million is expected to go to the first two winners in the agency's new strategic partnership program. CIRM says the effort is aimed at creating “incentives and processes that will: (i) enhance the likelihood that CIRM funded projects will obtain funding for Phase III clinical trials (e.g. follow-on financing), (ii) provide a source of co-funding in the earlier stages of clinical development, and (iii) enable CIRM funded projects to access expertise within pharmaceutical and large biotechnology partners in the areas of discovery, preclinical, regulatory, clinical trial design and manufacturing process development.”

CIRM reviewed six applications with two winning approval. The agency's governing board is expected to ratify the decision next week. None of the applicants have been identified by the agency, which routinely withholds that information prior to board action even when applicants have identified themselves.

Addition of a new $100 million disease team round will come on top of the second, $213 million disease team awards approved last this summer. The first round, awarded in 2009, totaled $230 million.  The size of the new round could be altered by CIRM directors prior to approval. Also before the board is a $40 million proposal to expand the industry-friendly strategic partnership effort into a second round.

The thrust of the disease team effort is to speed the process of establishing clinical trials and to finance efforts that might founder in what the biotech industry calls a valley of death – a high risk financial location, so to speak, where conventional financiers fear to tread.

The new disease team round will require “co-funding” from applicants but the agency did not specify what it means by the term. The matter of matching funds has become an issue in awards to StemCells, Inc., of Newark, Ca., in this summer's disease team round.

Next week's agenda additionally contains a plan to tighten review of proposed research budgets in grant applications, making it clear that CIRM staff will be negotiating such matters even after the board approves grants and loans.

So far no researchers have testified in public on the budget plan although it could well have a significant impact on their future efforts.

Additional matters will discussed as well at the meeting in Burlingame, which also has a teleconference location in La Jolla that will be open to the public. The address and additional material can be found on the agenda.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Search This Blog