Advisory

The California Stem Cell Report will be publishing intermittently over the next couple of weeks. We are back from Mexico for a visit to the Old Country (California) for visits with family and friends, who sometimes get in the way of daily publication of items on stem cell matters. And, no, we did not bring swine flu back with us from Mexico although a herd of wild swine chased us down the street as we ran to catch our plane out of Mazatlan.

Skimpy Coverage of CIRM Board Meeting

News coverage of the meeting of the board of the California stem cell agency was quite light today, focusing entirely on the approval of $68 million in grants.

Here are links to the stories and the few news releases put out by recipients. More publicity handouts are likely to surface over the next few days.

News

Terri Somers, San Diego Union Tribune

San Francisco Business Times

News releases

BioTime

Stanford

UC Irvine

CIRM Approves $68 Million in Grants; Wrestles with Executive Evaluation

LOS ANGELES -- The California stem cell agency today approved $68 million in grants for early translational research and left open the possibility that more might be awarded in June.

CIRM said in a news release,

"The 15 early translational grants approved by the board will go to 13 not-for-profit and two for-profit organizations. These grants are intended to either lead to a drug candidate for an unmet medical need or address a bottleneck in the development of new therapies."

CIRM President Alan Trounson was quoted as saying,

“With these early translational grants CIRM has taken the first step in funding translational research that will be critical for the development of future therapies.”

CIRM has talked about the importance of making grants to business. In this round, Novocell of San Diego, received $5.4 million and BioTime of Alameda, Ca., received $4.7 million. You can see a complete list of the approved applicants here.

Twelve additional grants had been recommended for funding by reviewers – if funds were available. But the board decided to put off a decision on those until June in hopes that CIRM will have an improved financial situation.

The board took no action on four letters from applicants seeking to reverse negative decisions by reviewers, but it rejected all applications ranked in the bottom tier. You can find the text of the petitions via the meeting agenda.

The board additionally approved $200,000 to co-sponsor the annual convention of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in San Francisco during the summer of 2010. John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for Consumer Watchdog of Santa Monica, Ca., supported the move although he was critical when the subject was first broached last December with a $400,000 price tag. Simpson praised as thorough the CIRM staff justification for the expenditure.

In other business, CIRM directors approved an evaluation process for the CIRM chair, vice chairs and president – the first such in the four-year history of the organization. The plan stirred debate concerning the composition and chairmanship of a new Evaluation Subcommittee of directors.

Some directors objected to permitting the Evaluation Subcommittee, which includes three of the four persons to be evaluated, decide who chairs the panel. Board member Jeff Sheehy, director for communications at the AIDS Research Institute at UC San Francisco, moved to designate the chair and vice chair of the Governance Subcommittee to fill the same positions on the Evaluation Subcommittee. Sherry Lansing, a UC regent and former movie studio CEO, and Claire Pomeroy, dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, are chair and vice chair of the governance panel. They were key to working out the evaluation process.

Sheehy said it was not appropriate for the people being evaluated to have a voice in picking the chair of the Evaluation Subcommittee.

Klein, who will sit on the Evaluation Subcommittee, opposed Sheehy's motion although he indicated he was willing to permit the full board to select the heads of the evaluation panel. Sheehy's motion failed on a vote of 5-15 with four self-recusals and two abstentions.

Directors Robert Azziz, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Cedars of Sinai in Los Angeles, and Carmen Puliafito, dean of the USC School of Medicine, expressed concern about the composition of the committee. Azziz said he wanted to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest. Puliafito said that the membership could give the appearance of "self-dealing."

The process was finally approved on an 18-5 vote with one self-recusal and two abstentions.

The board will make a decision on the chairs at a later date.

Here is the structure of the subcommittee as presented during today's board meeting. It will include:

• The chair and vice chairs of the Governance(Sherry Lansing), Finance (Michael Goldberg) and Legislative(CIRM Chairman Robert Klein) directors subcommittees.
• The chairs of the IP Task Force(Ed Penhoet) and the Biotech Loan Task Force (Duane Roth, who is also vice chair of the CIRM board of directors).
• The vice chairs or acting vice chair or co-chair where applicable of the Grants(Joan Samuelson or Sheehy), Standards (Lansing), Facilities (David Serrano Sewell) working groups.
• Two members appointed by the board but not yet named.
• The chair (Klein) and vice chairs (Roth and Art Torres)of the board except when they are the subject of an evaluation.

CIRM Debates Federal Legislation; $60 Million Grant Approvals Scheduled for Today

LOS ANGELES -- The board of the California stem cell agency last night backed away from endorsing industry-supported federal legislation dealing with biosimiliars, which would be copies of original biotechnological drugs following expiration of patent protection.

The board did not go along with its Legislative Subcommittee recommendation to support HR 1548 by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, which is favored by the Biotechnology Industry Organization. The subcommittee took no position on a rival bill, HR 1427 by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, which BIO opposes.

Instead of endorsing the Eshoo measure, the board voted to seek development of a statement of principles that it would like to see in any such legislation. That statement could come up before the full board during a telephonic meeting May 12.

Robert Price, who sits on the board as an alternate for UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, questioned the value of CIRM taking any position at all on the legislation.

Price, who is associate vice chancellor for research at UC Berkeley, asked,

"Do we really matter that much? I think we don't. Let's not engage in hubris here."

A number of other members of the board spoke both on behalf of the legislation and the need to protect businesses that put up the cash to develop new drugs.

Board member Ed Penhoet, former president of Chiron and a member of the National Academcy Sciences Board on Science, Technoloogy and Economic Policy, said the two pieces of legislation deal with the balance between the cost of therapies and the cost of innovation. He said it was "the most important issue in health care today."

Board member Sherry Lansing, the former head of a Hollywood film studio and a University of California regent, said,

"There will be no drugs unless we protect the people who take the risk."

As for the argument over high costs denying access to drugs, CIRM Vice Chairman Art Torres, former chairman of the California state Democratic Party, said,

"You can't have accessibility unless you have something to access."

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for Consumer Watchdog of Santa Monica, Ca., characterized the push for CIRM to become a player in Congress as a "little bit of mission creep."

In other business, CIRM communications chief Don Gibbons previewed the agency's new website, which he said should be up in a few days. He said it was designed to offer more information that will be better organized and accessible.

CIRM officials also officially confirmed for board members the news on the California Stem Cell Report that the agency's financial woes are over for some time. The agency will receive $505 million from the recent state bond sale. However, cash will get tight again by the end of 2010 unless CIRM raises more funds through the sale of state bonds.

In light of the good financial news, the board indicated that it wanted to reconsider its one-year delay in a training grant program. That topic is expected to come up in June. Additionally put off was an update on CIRM grantee progress report monitoring. Earlier a CIRM official had said said grants would be pulled because of a lack of progress, but he did not say when that would be announced.

Also on the board agenda last night were applications for $60 million in grants, including four petitions to overturn negative recommendations from reviewers. However, that was put off until this morning along with a request for $200,000 to co-sponsor the annual convention of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

Another item scheduled to be acted on today is the performance evaluation process for the Chairman Robert Klein, President Alan Trounson and Vice Chairs Torres and Duane Roth. It is the first time the CIRM board has officially promulgated publicly an evaluation procedure for the positions. But until recently the chair and vice chairs did not receive compensation. Roth has declined a salary, but Torres is receiving one.

This morning's meeting can be heard via the Internet. Details for the Web access are here. Teleconference locations for listening and participating are available in Sacramento, Pleasanton and at Stanford. Specific addresses can be found here.

Controller Calls for Online Posting of Financial Holdings of CIRM Officials

California's top fiscal officer wants to see posted on the Internet the statements of economic interests and travel and other expense forms of the top officials of the state's $3 billion stem cell agency.

Controller John Chiang, who chairs the committee that oversees CIRM's financial practices, will soon call a meeting of the panel to discuss how to implement the postings.

Chiang's plan would cover the 29-member CIRM board of directors, its executive staff and the members of the financial practices panel, which is officially called the Citizens Financial Accountability and Oversight Committee (CFAOC).

Chiang's move follows the lead of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who posts his top staff's economic interest statements and expenses on the Web. On April 2, we wrote about governor's postings and recommended the practice as something to be emulated by CIRM.

Internet publication of CIRM's information came up April 14 at a meeting of the CFAOC. Ruth Holton-Hodson, deputy controller for health and consumer policy, was filling for Chiang, who was ill.

According to the transcript, she said,

"The public is naturally very concerned about transparency, especially in these times when it comes to spending public dollars and potential conflicts of interest that might arise."

She noted that Chiang will be offering online the financial information for himself and his staff.

Posting the information serves the public well. But it is also healthy for CIRM, an agency that is riddled with built-in conflicts of interest, perhaps more so than any other state department.

The CIRM board of directors is dominated by folks from the institutions that have been the chief beneficiaries of CIRM´s largess. As of last October, 18 institutions with representatives on the board (past and present) had received $552 million in CIRM grants. More has been awarded since then. This week the CIRM board is expected to approve an additional $60 million in grants, most of which is likely to go to institutions connected to board members. Board members cannot vote on grants to their institutions, but the entire board sets the rules under which the grants are made and establishes the priorities for spending the billions of dollars.

Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for Chiang, said a date has not yet been set for the meeting of the CFAOC to discuss implementing postings by CIRM. The subject will be the only item on the agenda.

Public CIRM Hearing Next Week on NIH hESC Rules

If you are interested in the proposed NIH regulations for hESC research and California's reaction to them, put a May 7 meeting of the California stem cell agency on your calendar.

Not long after the CIRM directors Legislative Subcommittee Monday approved creation of a task force on the subject, a meeting with teleconference locations in San Francisco, Elk Grove, Los Angeles, Healdsburg and Duarte was scheduled for next week. Specific addresses can be found on the agenda.

Comments on the proposed rules must be submitted by May 24 to the NIH. You can read more on what CIRM has done so far here, but keep in mind that this is very much a work in progress.

California's Stem Cell Education Bill Comes Before CIRM and Senate on Wednesday

The board of directors of the California stem cell agency on Wednesday will discuss newly strengthened legislation to push stem cell research training and education into California public schools.

The bill, SB 471 by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, will now require state schools to establish and promote as a state priority a stem cell and biotech education program. Previously the legislation said such an effort "should" occur.

The bill is now dubbed the "California Stem Cell and Biotechnology Education and Workforce Development Act of 2009." It is supported by the BIOCOM industry group and opposed by the California Catholic Conference. CIRM has not yet officially taken a position on the measure, but has been working with the measure's authors.

The measure was added Monday afternoon to the board's agenda for its meeting that begins today in Los Angeles. Remote, interactive teleconference locations for the meeting are available in Sacramento, Pleasanton and at Stanford. Specific sites can be found on the board's agenda.

The bill is now before the Senate Education Committee, where it is certain to be approved on Wednesday. The legislation is likely to move easily through the Senate because the top Senate leader, Steinberg, is one of the authors.

Here is a link to the legislative staff analysis of the measure.

Public Can Participate in CIRM Board Meetings at Stanford, Sacramento and Pleasanton

For those of you unable to be personally present at the Tuesday and Wednesday meetings of the board of the $3 billion California stem cell agency, you can hear and participate in the proceedings from remote locations in Sacramento, Pleasanton and at Stanford.

The specific locations can be found on the agenda for the meetings. The remote access is being provided for the convenience of board members whose schedules make it difficult for them to attend the meetings in Los Angeles.

The practice began a few months ago to help avoid the problem of mustering the super-quorum needed for the CIRM board to officially do its business.

Also available is an Internet audiocast of the proceedings – one-way only. No participation is permitted via the audiocast. You can find details of how to gain access to the audiocast here.

For your planning purposes, the Tuesday session usually is devoted mainly to grant reviews, although Chairman Robert Klein is likely to discuss CIRM finances. Other business may come up as well.

CIRM's Initial Assessment on NIH hESC Rules; Task Force to Develop More Analysis

A key group of directors of the California stem cell agency this morning moved to create a task force to study and comment on the proposed NIH rules for human embryonic stem cell research.

The Legislative Subcommittee of the CIRM board of directors voted 7-0 to proceed with the work on the NIH rules, which have drawn fire from scientists in California. The action now goes to the full board for expected approval at its meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles.

CIRM plans to consult with institutions, scientists, the public and others in developing an analysis and recommendations on the NIH rules by May 24. Meetings of the task force are expected to be conducted in public. The CIRM board will hold a telephonic, public meeting on the final CIRM document, according to CIRM Chairman Robert Klein.

CIRM will also work with the Interstate Alliance on Stem Cell Research in developing its proposal. The alliance previously scheduled a May 5 meeting in Washington, D.C., which could provide a venue for exploration of the issues, said Geoff Lomax, senior officer for medical and ethical standards.

Following the 7:30 a.m. meeting today, CIRM posted background material and other information on the issues on its website. They include a comparison between the NIH guidelines and CIRM regulations and an intial assessment of the impact of the NIH proposal.

Among other things, CIRM's first-cut at the rules said,

"Our conclusion from this preliminary analysis is that the consent protocol for some lines does not include all items identified by NIH in its eligibility criteria, suggesting some scientifically significant lines may not qualify. All lines evaluated were derived from balstocysts created for reproductive purposes but no longer required for family planning."

"The draft policy sets ' high bar' for consent and disclosure. There are concerns that established cell lines may not meet the proposed standard. Substantial foundational research has been performed utilizing established lines. NIH should consider a 'grandfathering' clause or other mechanism that enables continued use of established lines. NIH should give consideration to whether a particular line was derived in accordance with consensus guidelines or the legal requirements at the time of consent or derivation."

"Further, experience suggests there may be uncertainty to whether specific cell lines conform to every requirement of the draft guidelines. This uncertainty may result in qualifying lines not being utilized. There was broad consensus that a registry of compliant lines would be the most efficient method for identifying lines and ensuring promising research materials are not unnecessarily disqualified."

"For grantee institutions the promulgation of NIH guidelines raises question related to the implementation of grants where a mix of funding is involved. For example, one institution identified the case where research involves a comparative analysis of multiple hESC lines. It is conceivable that such a study could involve lines not recognized or approved by every funding source. Harmonization of rules, to the extent allowed by law, would be desirable from this grantees perspective."

CIRM said,

"As the largest funder of human embryonic stem cell research in the world, CIRM has an interest in ensuring that the NIH rules are consistent with CIRM’s medical and ethical standards, which were modeled upon guidelines adopted by the National Academies of Science, and with the best interests of science and patients."

The NIH announced its proposed new rules only 10 days ago. CIRM completed its preliminary analysis last Friday. However, the actually posting of documents relies on a state department that does not work during the weekend.

The Legislative Subcommittee also voted to support 6-0 with one abstention (Jeff Sheehy) a federal bill dealing with biosimiliars, which are copies of the original biotechnological drugs following the expiration of patent protection.

The panel backed HR 1548, by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, which is also supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization. The industry group opposes a rival bill, HR 1427 by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles. The subcommittee did not take a position on Waxman's bill.

CIRM Panel to Debate NIH Rules This Morning

The San Francisco Chronicle this morning carried a stout defense of the NIH's proposed rules for human embryonic stem cell research just hours before the California stem cell agency is scheduled to debate the proposal.

The proposed regulations, opposed by some scientists in California, were endorsed Jesse Reynolds of the Center for Genetics and Society of Oakland, Ca., in an op-ed piece in the Chronicle.

Reynolds said the proposals were thoughtful and the "right thing to do."

He said that that barring federal funds for cloning-based stem cell research would help to prevent creation of a technical foundation for reproductive cloning, which "continues to tempt rogue scientists."

The CIRM directors Legislative Subcommittee is scheduled to take up the NIH proposal at 7:30 a.m. PDT today. The agency has only posted a cryptic agenda item on the subject and has not offered to the public any analysis of the regulations or a rationale for why CIRM should take a position on the federal plan.

We will have coverage of the meeting later today.

CIRM Reassures Grantees on Their Cash

Late Friday, the California stem cell agency sent the following email to CIRM grantees:

"We at CIRM headquarters want to send you some reassuring news regarding CIRM’s finances and our plans to continue a full and robust research portfolio. This week the California State Treasurer successfully sold $6.85 billion in bonds, more than twice the amount originally sought by the treasurer. This vote of confidence by the investor community is good news for CIRM, our grantees and all the patients in California and elsewhere we seek to serve.

"Robert Klein, chair of the CIRM governing board, thanked the State Department of Finance and the State Treasurer’s Office for their tremendous efforts. He indicated that the estimated $275 million in additional funds expected for the agency raises the funds available for grants and facilities to some $400 million and this will cover all commitments, existing and expected, for the next 18 months."

More on the $505 Million for CIRM

The San Francisco Weekly, which produced a thorough overview of CIRM earlier this month, today picked up our report on the $505 million cash infusion that is expected to bail out the California stem cell agency.

Peter Jamison wrote,

"CIRM spokesman Don Gibbons said he could not confirm (David) Jensen's figures, because the agency has received nothing in writing from the state treasurer. However, Gibbons said CIRM 'has indications' that the report is accurate and hopes to make a definitive announcement at a board meeting next week in Los Angeles. Jensen quoted Robert Feyer, bond counsel to the treasurer's office, as confirming that $505 million was set aside for CIRM and would be available next Tuesday."

CIRM: Some Scientists' Grants to be Pulled

Some researchers who have been funded by California's $3 billion stem cell agency are going to lose their grants because of a lack of progress, according to a top CIRM official.

John Robson, CIRM vice president for operations, made the statement April 14 at a meeting of the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee, a five-member panel chaired by state Controller John Chiang, California's top fiscal officer. The committee is is charged with assessing CIRM's financial practices.

Robson's remarks came as part of a general response to questions about risk assessments by CIRM.

According to the transcript, he said,

"....(W)e get annual reviews, progress reports and our science officers go through those. And it's not a perfunctory exercise. They go through these things quite carefully. If there's things they don't understand or if it doesn't look (like) there's been much progress, they call up the PI (principal investigator) and they say, 'What's going on? You know, we've seen these experiments being done. What's your progress?' And then we work from there.

"If it turns out that there's no progress, we can cut the grant. I suspect that's going to happen. Some people are going to lose some grants."

Ruth Holton-Hodson, deputy controller for health and consumer policy, raised the questions about risk. She chaired the meeting in the absence of Chiang, who had suffered a foot injury, and said she brought up the matter on his behalf.

The Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee is not to be confused with CIRM's Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, which is the 29-member CIRM board of directors. Chiang, a Democrat, is a statewide elected official. He was given the role of chairman of the financial accountability committee by Prop. 71, the ballot measure that created CIRM.

The CIRM board of directors meets next Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles. Item No. 8 on the agenda is an "update on CIRM grantee progress report monitoring." No further details were provided on the agenda on that item.

State Bond Sale Provides $505 Million for CIRM

The California stem cell agency, once on its way to running out of money by next fall, is now slated to receive $505 million as the result of the sale this week of $6.86 billion in state bonds.

Robert Feyer of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, bond counsel to the state treasurer, told the California Stem Cell Report,

"I can confirm for your readers that the large state bond issue which was priced today (total of $6.855 billion) includes $505 million for the stem cell program. This money will be available next Tuesday, when the transaction closes."

CIRM Chairman Robert Klein is likely to discuss the impact of the funding at next week's board of directors meeting in Los Angeles. Feyer said that a "good portion" of the bond cash is expected to go for facilities grants. It is not clear whether CIRM will give up its plan to market state bonds privately.

CIRM relies almost totally on state bond funding. The measure that created the agency, Prop. 71, specified the nature of the funding so that CIRM did not have to ask the legislature and the governor for cash. Because of its budget crisis, California, until recently, had not sold any bonds since last June.

Translational Grant Reviews Now Available From CIRM

The California stem cell agency has posted the reviews of grant applications for $60 million for early translational research that will be awarded at next week's meeting of CIRM's board of directors in Los Angeles.

Ten grants are scheduled to be approved by directors. However, grant reviewers have given the okay to 15 totaling about $68 million. If the directors want to stay within their original budget, they will have to take the rare step of rejecting a positive decision on grants by reviewers.

The grants that have won reviewer approval include proposals dealing with cartilage regeneration and osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and macular degeneration. You can find the reviews here along with their scores.

The names of the applicants have been withheld by CIRM, but the identities of some may be discerned from the reviews by persons familiar with stem cell research.

Also now available on the directors' agenda is a side-by-side comparison of two federal bills dealing with biosimiliars, which are copies of the original biotechnological drugs following the expiration of patent protection. Directors are expected to be asked to take a position on the measures, but they will first be discussed Monday morning by the Legislative Subcommittee.

One of the bills, HR 1548, by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, is supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which opposes a rival bill, HR 1427 by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles. It would be interesting to know whether CIRM's $240,000, federal lobbyist, the Podesta Group, is lobbying for or against either one of the bills.

With three business days remaining before the directors meeting, CIRM has not posted any background material on its possible position on the proposed NIH rules on hESC research and several other items. They include the monitoring of CIRM grantees, the agency's statewide education program and evaluation procedures for the chair, vice chair and president.

CIRM Board Meeting Will be Available on the Internet

Next week's meeting of the board of directors of the California stem cell agency can be heard on the Web via an audiocast, but it will not be available through a dial-in connection.

The Tuesday session begins at 4:30 p.m.and can be at this url: http://65.197.1.15/att/confcast

CIRM said interested parties should enter conference ID# 997897 then click go.

For the Wednesday session, use the same procedure beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The general procedure at CIRM board meetings is go over the grants on Tuesday, but other business is often taken up. CIRM Chairman Robert Klein is likely to open with a statement. CIRM President Alan Trounson could also make his report, including his take on the latest stem cell research in the news.

No audiocast via a dial-in connection will be available next week because of logistical issues, CIRM said.

CIRM Provides Justification for $200,000 for ISSCR Meeting

Much to its credit, the California stem cell agency Tuesday posted a dandy backgrounder on its recommendation that CIRM directors next week approve $200,000 to assist the International Society for Stem Cell Research with its convention in San Francisco in 2010.

The document is a far cry from the original request in December that sought $400,000 but did not provide any justification or explanation. This week's document is a good example of the type of information that CIRM can provide that assists in meaningful public participation in the agency's activities.

While one may or may not agree with the recommendation to co-sponsor the convention, CIRM does a fine job in pointing out the benefits to the agency, the state and science in general. The document lists eight benefits from the contribution, including no-cost attendance by CIRM staff and interaction of CIRM grantees and trainees with the world's top stem cell scientists. CIRM said,

"All of these benefits will be continuous reminders to the attendees, including the leading stem cell scientists in the world, that California drives the field and is an attractive, vibrant location for academic researchers and biotech companies. As new funding opportunities become available for stem cell research elsewhere, California cannot rest on its laurels, if it is to attract and retain the best scientists and companies. We think that conference co-sponsorship is a valuable means to enhance those efforts."

CIRM said that about 500 California scientists are expected to attend the 2010 meeting. (About 2,800 persons attended the ISSCR convention in 2008.)

CIRM said,

"If the meeting were to be held outside California, the increased travel costs alone for 500 attendees could easily exceed $250,000, much of which would have to be paid with CIRM grant funds."

We wonder about that assertion, largely because we were not aware that CIRM grants provided for travel and participation in the annual conventions of the ISSCR. This year's meeting is in Barcelona. One would think that financing international jaunts is not necessarily an appropriate use of taxpayer funds unless it can be very explicitly tied to the purpose of the grant.

Total cost of the San Francisco meeting is an estimated $1.5 million. CIRM is also helping out in arranging for the no-cost use of Moscone Center for the meeting and the rotunda at city hall for a reception. The value of those contributions by the City of San Francisco is placed at $125,000.

CIRM's proposed $200,000 contribution would go for travel expenses for organizers and speakers ($50,000) and conference services, publicity and publications ($150,000).

CIRM said the $200,000 should be taken from privately donated funds, which now total $3.4 million. That would be a good PR move, helping to ease any criticism of the expenditures. Nonetheless, the money is still public money. It became that when it was donated.

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for Consumer Watchdog of Santa Monica, Ca., publicly criticized the earlier CIRM moves to assist with the meeting. We have not heard from him yet on the latest proposal.

CIRM staff provided the breakdown and detailed justification for its recommendation as the result of requests by CIRM directors in December.

The recommendation for funding is expected to be voted on at next Tuesday's and Wednesday's meeting of the board of directors in Los Angeles.

CIRM to Hand Out $60 Million Next Week in Move Towards the Clinic

Directors of the California's financially troubled stem cell agency are likely to receive a bit of good news one week from today as they meet in Los Angeles to give away $60 million for projects to push stem cells into the clinic.

CIRM has been suffering from a cash crunch, but today the state of California is going to market with as much as $4 billion in taxable bonds. CIRM is on tap to receive a good chunk of that, probably enough to keep it from running out of funds by this fall.

The bond sale is not mentioned in the formal agenda, but Chairman Bob Klein will certainly discuss it along with his plan to sell state bonds privately on behalf of the $3 billion enterprise.

The directors are also scheduled to approve 10 grants totaling $60 million for early translational research. CIRM says the awards

"...are designed to move promising basic research in stem cell science toward the clinic. These awards will support two categories of projects including research that: 1) results in a development candidate that meets an unmet medical need; or 2) addresses a significant bottleneck in the translation of stem cell biology that hinders advancement of effective, novel cell therapies to the clinic."

The topic of the awards could trigger general discussion of the direction of CIRM and its strategic plan, although the plan is not on the agenda. CIRM President Alan Trounson may bring it up during his report to the board.

CIRM's direction recently came under review in a piece in the San Francisco Weekly that was headlined "Stem-cell stalemate: The push for cures may produce only disappointment - or worse."

Also on tap is the proposed co-sponsorship of the 2010 San Francisco convention of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The latest price tag for that is $250,000, down from $400,000. CIRM has said it will help the group raise $150,000, a move that drew some fire from John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for Consumer Watchdog of Santa Monica, Ca.

Also on tap are evaluation procedures for CIRM's chair, vice chair and president along with consideration of two pieces of federal legislation and the proposed NIH rules for human embryonic stem cell research (see "CIRM and the NIH").

As usual, CIRM has not provided any links or background information on all these issues on the agenda on its web site. That means that the public is hard pressed to determine the significance of the cryptic listings of matters to come before directors of the world's largest source of funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Without some frame of reference, interested parties – be they business, academic or otherwise – find it difficult to determine whether their enterprises are being affected.

Although Klein has repeatedly pledged to adhere to the highest standards of openness, CIRM's chronic failure to post background material in a timely fashion demonstrates the bankruptcy of that pledge.

We are asking CIRM whether there are issues or other problems that we do not understand concerning the failure to post background material.

CIRM and the NIH: A Stand on the Proposed hESC Rules?

Directors of the California stem cell agency next week will take up the proposed NIH regulations for human embryonic stem cell research that have triggered dismay among some scientists in the state and elsewhere.

The topic is on the agenda of the CIRM directors' Legislative Subcommittee meeting one week from today and then it comes before the full board the following day or two at its Los Angeles meeting.

In the eyes of some influential scientists, the proposed regulations are too restrictive. Irv Weissman of Stanford promptly criticized them last Friday as just substituting one ideology for another. Susan Fisher, co-director of stem cell research at UC San Francisco, also was not pleased. She told Lisa Krieger of the San Jose Mercury News,

"This mostly moves the line in the sand from 2001 to 2009."

Fisher said,

"We still desperately need CIRM and private funding,"

On the East Coast, reporter Ceci Connolly of the Washington Post wrote,

"'I am really, really startled,' said Susan L. Solomon, chief executive of the private New York Stem Cell Foundation. 'This seems to be a political calculus when what we want in this country is a scientific research calculus.'"

Generally, however, the proposed NIH rules received mild or better praise in most of the stories that we have seen. Jesse Reynolds of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, Ca., wrote on his organization's blog, Biopolitical Times, that the NIH "got it right."

He said the regulations are "consistent with his (Obama's) campaign promises, consistent with public opinion, and draw lines in a way that will allow promising research to go forward while preventing potential abuses."

It was clear, however, that the NIH rules are very much a product that was based on a reading of public opinion about stem cell science, a fact that was mentioned in several stories.

Reporter Gardiner Harris of the New York Times also noted a bit of presidential political history, writing,

"During the campaign last year, Mr. Obama said he supported 'therapeutic cloning of stem cells,' a policy his administration rejected Friday. A White House spokesman, Reid Cherlin, said the president 'directed N.I.H. to formulate the best method for moving forward with stem cell research, both ethically and scientifically,' in an independent process."

CIRM's decision to place the regulations before its directors raises some interesting questions.
What does CIRM have to gain by entering this particular fray? Failure to oppose them will alienate some influential researchers and perhaps their parent institutions.

Supporting the rules could be regarded as institutionally self-serving and as an attempt to justify the continued existence of CIRM, whose origins were based on former President Bush's restrictive policies. Some of have argued that CIRM is now irrelevant, given Obama's moves and the changing nature of stem cell science. However, it is hard to see how $3 billion in research funding could be considered irrelevant by anyone. The NIH is certainly not going to fund all the fondest desires of even those who qualify under its proposed rules.

Also on next week's CIRM agendas are other federal matters that could place CIRM in the middle of a pharmaceutical war. Up for consideration by CIRM directors are two Congressional bills involving biosimiliars – HR 1427 by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, and HR 1548 by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization does not care for Waxman's bill, declaring that it "would jeopardize patient safety and undermine future medical breakthroughs," according to Patricia Van Arnum of Pharmatech.com. Waxman, of course, thinks differently.

He said his bill would "allow the Food and Drug Administration to approve affordable copies of biotech drugs." He said,

"Biotech drugs, while often life-saving, are the fastest growing and most expensive components of the nation’s prescription drug bill."

BIO favors Eshoo's bill, according to Van Arnum, declaring that it balances "the need to increase access, lower costs, ensure drug safety and promote continued biomedical breakthroughs."

The Legislative Subcommittee meeting will have teleconference access available 7:30 a.m. next Monday at seven locations: two in San Francisco and others in Portola Valley, Menlo Park, Elk Grove, Healdsburg and La Jolla. You can listen in and participate from those locations. If you are unable to attend, you may submit a statement by sending it to info@cirm.ca.gov.

The full board meeting does not have interactive teleconference access, but it may be available via the Internet and a phone line audiocast.

We invite comment on this item and CIRM's role in NIH affairs. You can submit comments by clicking on the word "comments" below. Anonymous comments are permitted.

Torres, Palin and Stem Cell Research

It was the first known public comment by a member of the board of directors of the California stem cell agency on onetime vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The remarks came Friday from Art Torres, recently elected co- vice chairman of the CIRM board,

The occasion was a tour of stem cell lab facilities at UC San Francisco and the Gladstone Institute involving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to an account by reporter Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Pelosi was asked about comments by Palin, attacking President Obama for his support for hESC research. Pelosi stoutly defended the research, declaring, "We need science, science, science, science, science."

Torres said that Palin's comments were "very disappointing...because it's such a blatant campaign move."

Marinucci wrote,

"He said she was 'playing to the crowd' for a 2012 run, but hasn't offered any alternatives to the major advances that might be made in biomedical research."

Readers left 124 comments on the Chronicle piece, but not one mentioned Torres' comments, as far as we can tell. However, one commentator said that Pelosi said science only four times – not five.