Less Than Probing: Financial Examination of $12 Billion Stem Cell Research Program Skims Quickly Over the Numbers

Not discussed are CIRM's sustainability and its self-identified risks; session held behind closed electronic doors

The chief fiscal officer of the world’s 8th-largest economy is calling last week's meeting about California’s $12 billion stem cell and gene therapy program  “incredibly important and serious.” 

However, the session, which was effectively closed to the public, was less than probing and did not cover a number of critical matters facing the more than 19-year-old agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).  

CIRM came under review by the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee (CFAOC)  only days after one of its longtime members, Jim Lott, resigned and called for a fundamental reexamination of CIRM’s structure and governance. 

“I don’t think this train runs on the track any longer,” Lott said. 

Also not on the agenda was CIRM's recent report on the risks it faces from high-level management changes, a poor financial environment for biomedical start-up businesses and high interest rates.

However, the committee did hear a summary of a performance audit