Rudy Giuliani and Covid-19: A California Stem Cell Angle

Capitol Weekly, an online service that covers California government and political news, this morning carried an article dealing with an award last week involving a Covid-19 clinical trial. Here is an excerpt from the freelance piece by yours truly. 

"California’s stem cell agency last week awarded $750,000 to a New Jersey firm to help finance a clinical trial for the firm’s proposed Covid-19 treatment — a therapy that has been hailed by President Trump’s personal attorney as having “real potential.” 

"The firm is Celularity, Inc. Its president and co-founder is Robert Hariri, who describes himself as a longtime friend of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer. The speedy passage of Celularity’s proposed product through the federal drug approval gauntlet has attracted attention from the New York Times as well as the respected STAT biomedical online news service and other media. 

"Last Friday, directors of the taxpayer-funded stem cell agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM), approved Celularity’s $750,000 application with no discussion. The headline on a STAT article on March 31 said, “Rudy Giuliani wants FDA to fast-track a stem cell therapy for Covid-19; critics see political meddling.”" 

For more details, see Capitol Weekly.