Stem Cell Scientists' Hopes for Research Cash Survive Another Round in California

(Late News Break: It looks like the six applications in the story below are now headed for approval, perhaps as early as next Thursday. See this story.)

Six stem cell research proposals targeting bladder cancer, autism, liver failure and more escaped rejection today as the $3 billion California stem cell agency struggles with its finances.

The agency expects to run out of cash for new awards by the end of next year. In 2019, it is considering awarding only $144 million compared to $300 million in some years. "We are coming to the end," said CIRM board member Oswald Steward, director of the Reeve, Irvine Research Center at UC Irvine, in July.

The applications had already been held over from July when the agency's directors were presented with a $19 million list of applications approved by its out-of-state reviewers in an earlier closed-door session.

However, the round was budgeted for only $10 million by the governing board of the agency, known formally as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

Ten letters of support were filed on behalf of five rejected awards, whose scores ranged from 90 to 87. The agency in July approved three awards with scores of 85.

Some of the researchers and supporters appeared before the board today. Philip Beachy of Stanford, who is seeking $1.4 million for bladder cancer research, said his team was seeking a long term cure for bladder, which has a tendency to recur and is the most expensive cancer to treat per patient.

Other researchers and patients also made a direct appeal to CIRM directors, and on an 11-0 vote, the board kept the applications alive during a telephonic meeting.

Here is a link to the scores and review summaries in this round. Here is the presentation by staff on its recommendations.

Here is a list of letters supporting applications in this round and their authors:

• Daniel Geschwind, director of UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment, on behalf of application DISC2-11070, treatment for autism, PI Stuart Lipton of Scripps Research of La Jolla (score 87 out of 100)
• Bridget Vissari, president, Achroma Corp., Butler, Pa., in support of DISC2-10973, PI Jonathan Lin of UC San Diego, dealing with photoreceptor diseases (score 88 out of 100)
• Laura Brady, research manager, Fighting Blindness of Dublin, Ireland, also in support of DISC2-10973
• Avril Daly, CEO, Retina International, also in support of DISC2-10973.
• Philip Beachy, Ernest and Amelia Gallo professor, Stanford, in support of his application, DISC2-11105, dealing with bladder cancer (score 90 out of 100)
• Don Reed, vice president of public policy, Americans for Cures, also in support of DISC2-11105
• David Russell, chief scientific officer, Universal Cells, Inc., of Seattle, a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma, in support of DISC2-10979 PI Tracy Grikscheit of USC, dealing with liver failure therapy (score 90 out of 100)
• Paul Viviano, CEO Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and two others, also in support of DISC2-10979
• Neil Seigel, co-director USC Hearing and Communication Neuroscience Training Program, in support of his application DISC2-11183, dealing with hearing loss (score 87 out of 100)
• Robert Rainey, research associate of Neil Segil Lab, USC, also in support of application DISC2-11183 (Rainey's letter is in the same file as Segil's)