Randy Mills, the former head of the California stem cell agency who left it in 2017, has resigned as president of a large bone marrow non-profit known as "Be The Match" in Minneapolis.
A brief news release from the organization said he was leaving for "personal reasons." Local news coverage of Mills' departure in Minnesota was scanty. Be The Match reported income of about $418 million in 2018.
Maria Millan, then vice president for therapeutics at California's stem cell agency, succeeded him as CEO and president of the agency and still holds that position. Mills was highly regarded at the agency and has been credited with helping to sharpen its focus and direction.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
New California Stem Cell Ballot Initiative Hits $1 Million Campaign Spending Mark; Tens of Millions More Needed
The spending was reported by the Californians for Stem Cell Research, Treatments and Cures, the campaign committee led by Robert Klein, a Palo Alto real estate developer who also directed the campaign that created the state stem cell agency in 2004 via a ballot initiative.
The $942,005 in spending covers all of 2019 but not 2020. The report to the California Secretary of State shows that the committee received only $712,254 in non-monetary contributions and had a zero balance as of the end of last year. All of the contributions came Klein Financial Corp. in Palo Alto, Ca., or from Klein, who is president of the real estate investment firm. Klein was the first chairman of the stem cell agency, known officially as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The agency is running out of money and needs the additional billions to continue its work. It was funded with $3 billion in state borrowing 15 years ago.
 |
| Robert Klein addressing CIRM board about the ballot measure in 2017 |
Klein told the California Stem Cell Report in 2017 that he expected that the current stem cell ballot initiative campaign, including signature gathering, campaign advertising, etc., would run this year about $50 million.
In a telephone interview last week, he demurred when asked about campaign finances and fundraising.
Klein has reported to state election officials that the campaign has collected 25 percent of the more than 600,000 signatures needed to qualify for the fall ballot. That benchmark sets the stage for legislative hearings on the proposed initiative.
The legislature cannot modify the initiative but it could offer its own alternative approach. No date has been set for hearings, which must occur 131 days before the Nov. 3 election.
Monday, February 10, 2020
California's Alpha Stem Cell Clinics: A Look at the $50 Million Effort in May
If you want to know what is happening with one of the signature efforts of the $3 billion California stem cell agency, mark Friday May 1 on your calendar.
That's the date of a free, day-long conference in Sacramento dealing with the stem cell agency's statewide Alpha Clinic program, which has its northern most location at UC Davis.
This is the 5th annual review of the Alpha Clinic effort, which was seeded with $50 million by the stem cell agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regnerative Medicine(CIRM). The Alpha clinics specialize in delivering stem cell clinical trials to patients.
(See here for a UC San Diego video involving the Alpha Clinic program. You can skip the ad at the beginning by clicking on the "skip ad" box in the right hand corner of the video screen.)
The Alpha conference represents an opportunity for state policy makers and legislators to get a first-hand perspective on the state's 15-year-old stem cell agency, which is hoping that next November voters will approve an additional $5.5 billion for the program.
The agency expects to phase out its work if the ballot initiative fails.
In addition to UC Davis, other Alpha locations are at City of Hope, UC Irvine/UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco.
The agenda for the May meeting is still being developed. But topics currently scheduled include unmet medical needs, cures for rare diseases, cancer clinical trials and the all-important topic of access and affordability.
In addition to researchers, the session includes a number of patients and patient advocates.
Reservations can be made by going to this page on the Internet.
That's the date of a free, day-long conference in Sacramento dealing with the stem cell agency's statewide Alpha Clinic program, which has its northern most location at UC Davis.
This is the 5th annual review of the Alpha Clinic effort, which was seeded with $50 million by the stem cell agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regnerative Medicine(CIRM). The Alpha clinics specialize in delivering stem cell clinical trials to patients.
(See here for a UC San Diego video involving the Alpha Clinic program. You can skip the ad at the beginning by clicking on the "skip ad" box in the right hand corner of the video screen.)
The Alpha conference represents an opportunity for state policy makers and legislators to get a first-hand perspective on the state's 15-year-old stem cell agency, which is hoping that next November voters will approve an additional $5.5 billion for the program.
The agency expects to phase out its work if the ballot initiative fails.
In addition to UC Davis, other Alpha locations are at City of Hope, UC Irvine/UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco.
The agenda for the May meeting is still being developed. But topics currently scheduled include unmet medical needs, cures for rare diseases, cancer clinical trials and the all-important topic of access and affordability.
In addition to researchers, the session includes a number of patients and patient advocates.
Reservations can be made by going to this page on the Internet.
Thursday, February 06, 2020
California Stem Cell Agency Okays Major, Publicly Financed Conference During Ballot Campaign for $5.5 Billion More
OAKLAND, Ca. -- California's financially strapped stem cell agency this morning approved a $250,000, two-day public conference on the state of stem cell research that would be held in the midst of a ballot campaign to provide the agency with an additional $5.5 billion from taxpayers.
The proposal was approved on a unanimous vote after a brief discussion.
The conference is expected to be held prior to the Nov. 3 election involving the proposed, $5.5 billion measure. Details and location are yet to be worked out.
Known formally as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the agency was created by voters in 2004 who provided it with $3 billion in bond funding. It is now down to its last $27 million for awards. The agency has additional cash to continue its administrative operations this year and wind down later if the proposed ballot initiative fails to win approval.
CIRM has held a number of large, public events over its 15-year life to bring together scientists and the public as part of its public information efforts to report on its activities and encourage collaboration among researchers. The conference approved today falls in that category, the agency says.
The meeting, however, is likely to be targeted, sooner or later, by opponents of the agency as an improper use of public funds. The state has legal restrictions on use of public funds during ballot campaigns that involve many gray areas. But normal public information efforts are permitted.
No member of the public spoke today against the conference, which was available live online and at a number of public teleconference locations throughout the state.
The agency told the California Stem Cell Report earlier this week,
The proposal was approved on a unanimous vote after a brief discussion.
The conference is expected to be held prior to the Nov. 3 election involving the proposed, $5.5 billion measure. Details and location are yet to be worked out.
Known formally as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the agency was created by voters in 2004 who provided it with $3 billion in bond funding. It is now down to its last $27 million for awards. The agency has additional cash to continue its administrative operations this year and wind down later if the proposed ballot initiative fails to win approval.
CIRM has held a number of large, public events over its 15-year life to bring together scientists and the public as part of its public information efforts to report on its activities and encourage collaboration among researchers. The conference approved today falls in that category, the agency says.
The meeting, however, is likely to be targeted, sooner or later, by opponents of the agency as an improper use of public funds. The state has legal restrictions on use of public funds during ballot campaigns that involve many gray areas. But normal public information efforts are permitted.
No member of the public spoke today against the conference, which was available live online and at a number of public teleconference locations throughout the state.
The agency told the California Stem Cell Report earlier this week,
"CIRM has conducted four grantee meetings since the agency’s inception. These meetings are opportunities for grantees to share information about their progress, discuss bottlenecks in the field, and identify potential partnership opportunities. This grantee meeting will be no different. The meeting will comply with state laws governing the use of public funds in connection with ballot measure campaigns and will not include any advocacy for or against the ballot measure."The CIRM conference proposal said that the public, CIRM grantees, interested funding organizations, patient advocates and stakeholders would be invited to the two-day session. An estimated 300-400 participants are expected. CIRM said the goals of the meeting are to:
- "Provide a public forum to learn about the most recent advances in stem cell research in California.
- "Encourage the sharing of information and data among CIRM grantees to foster collaboration and learning.
- "Timely presentations to address and overcome key bottlenecks and challenges in the field to help advance existing projects.
- "Showcase promising stem cell-based projects for partnership opportunities with investors, funders, or companies."
"Communications about a ballot measure should be delivered through CIRM’s ordinary communication methods, like its website, blog, newsletter, emails to interested persons, and public meetings, in the style CIRM normally uses to communicate other information. CIRM should avoid passionate or inflammatory language and modes of communication that it does not regularly employ, and should not encourage voters to vote in a particular manner."Harrison drafted portions of the 2004 initiative that created the agency. He was also heavily involved in drafting the current proposed initiative.
California Stem Cell Agency Approves $1.8 million to Speed Promising Research
OAKLAND, Ca. -- The California stem cell agency today approved the use of $1.8 million in newly recovered funds to help researchers move promising basic research into products that would be available to the general public.
The action targeted acceleration of work from what the agency calls its Quest program. The agency said it had eight possibilities for awards in the pipeline.
The money for the awards comes from $2.8 million that has been recovered from other CIRM-funded research that has not met its milestones.
The agency expects to report on the status of any additional recovered funds in May.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)