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Directors of the $3 billion California stem cell agency today approved a $50 million plan that will radically reshape its efforts to produce a widely available stem cell treatment, a goal that it has not yet reached after 10 years of trying.
Speed is what the new push is all about – shortening the agency’s funding cycle for awards from nearly two years to about four months.
The plan was devised by Randy Mills, who has been president since last May of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known. He has dubbed the effort “CIRM 2.0” and says,
“We are in the business of trying to save people’s lives….We have to behave with the appropriate sense of urgency.”
CIRM 2.0 will begin next month for awards related to clinical trials with $50 million allotted for the first six months of the year. The program will be extended to other award programs as well. The agency hands out cash at an average rate of $190 million a year and has about...