CIRM in 'Limbo' and Fighting 'Uphill Battle,' Says San Francisco Business Times
The headline in the San Francisco Business Times article read:
“R&D REBOOT
“Turnover at the top, fragile funding and a strategy review: Why
CIRM is struggling”
On one hand, the article quoted scientist Donald Kohn of UCLA as saying, “CIRM funding, there’s nothing like it in the world,”
On the other hand, the article said that the $12 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) faces an “uphill battle” in its efforts “to produce a winning drug and convince taxpayers their money is well spent.”
The Business Times covered considerable ground with comments from CIRM’s chairman and its interim president, who previously served as chairman. The story said the 19-year-old program was “in limbo.”
Despite its nearly 1,500 awards totaling nearly $4 billion CIRM has failed to fulfill voter expectations dating back to 2004, when they approved its creation, as the California Stem Cell Report has reported. Voters were led to believe that nearly miraculous cures were right around the corner. However, the agency has yet to help finance a stem cell treatment that is available to the general public.
CIRM’s remaining, unallocated funds now total $3.45 billion out of its original $8.5 billion. (Its $12 billion cost to taxpayers includes interest expense on the borrowed funds.)
The agency has no other source of funding and could require refinancing as early as 2028, depending on considerations ranging from its rate of spending to the need for propitious timing of another ballot initiative.
“Right now, CIRM appears in limbo,” said the Business Times, which has a weekly readership of close to more than 36,000 with an average annual household income approaching $500,00.
“Maria Millan (the former CEO) left for unknown
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The California Stem Cell Report to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.