Skimpy Coverage of Alpha Clinic Concept Approval

News coverage of approval of the California stem cell agency's ambitious, $70 million Alpha clinic plan has been quite light but does include one article in the Los Angeles Times, the state's largest circulation newspaper.

The concept proposal was ratified last week by the agency's board with RFAs scheduled to be posted in October. The agency is seeking to build a basis for a robust stem cell clinic business in California that would have an international reach and give the state dominance in the industry.

Karen Kaplan's story in the Times last week quoted CIRM President Alan Trounson as saying in 2010 about agency's goals.

“If we went 10 years and had no clinical treatments, it would be a failure. We need to demonstrate that we are starting a whole new medical revolution.”

The stem cell agency was created by voters in 2004 and funded with $3 billion in borrowed money. It will run out of funds for new grants in 2017.

Outsourcing-Pharma.com caught up with the plan this week in a story that said,

“The opportunity to run trails under the well-funded CIRM could be a boon for CROs (contract research organizations)....But the difficulties of handling the stem cells and gathering enough patients to enroll in a trial may prove daunting for whatever company tries to conduct the trials.”

The article also quoted CIRM spokesman Kevin McCormack as saying,

 “No one has reached out to us yet because the specific details of what we are looking for in the clinics have not yet been decided.”

That said, considerable information is available here, here, here, here and here.)

Also reporting on board approval of the Alpha clinic plan was GenNews.