A $6 Billion Question: Affordability of California's Stem Cell Therapies

Untitled Document Imagine this headline popping up on the Internet and in the New York Times in about four years:

“$6 Billion for ‘Price Gouging' Stem Cell Therapy” 

The possibility of such a news story is not all that fanciful -- given the growing tension and anger over exorbitant drug prices being set by a variety of Big Pharma firms. The likelihood of such a report and its impact is a matter for careful consideration by the 29 directors of the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

They are presiding over an effort that will cost the Golden State’s taxpayers roughly $6 billion by 2020.  Nominally, the agency is giving out $3 billion in research awards. However, the cost is approximately doubled because the state is borrowing money to finance the research, a move approved by voters in 2004.

No therapies for widespread use have yet emerged from the agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). But the agency is pushing hard. It could have a therapy on the market within four years. The question...