California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to Award First Research Grants
This week, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will award its first grants for stem cell research, marking a milestone of sorts. Over two years ago (in 2004), California voters overwhelmingly decided that embryonic stem cell research was so important that the State of California should not only allow embryonic stem cell research to proceed (at least in California) but also substantially fund it with the passage of proposition 71. Proposition 71 authorized the issuance of $3 billion in bonds over a 10-year period ($300 million per year) to establish a new entity called the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The impetus for the California law was President George W. Bush's decision to halt funding all embryonic stem cell research except on all but a very limited number of stem cell lines (there are only about 19 are currently available to researchers) that were created before the arbitrary date of August 9, 2001, the date of his speech on the topic.
Unfortunately, lawsuits challenging the new law on various grounds were filed, and until recently, those effectively prevented CIRM from issuing bonds, and therefore awarding any research grants. While the litigation continues, it does appear that it will soon be concluded successfully in favor of CIRM in the near future. For example, the trial court has already ruled in CIRM's favor, and on February 14, 2007, an appellate court heard oral arguments on the appeal filed by Prop 71's opponents. The court is expected to rule shortly, and those involved in the litigation expect a favorable decision in the next few months.
The reason for the delays in awarding its first research grants is complex, but it boils down to the fact that numerous legal challenges were made in the California courts, which were both time-consuming and expensive to respond to. However, recently, CIRM has found new funding sources: namely a $150 million General Fund loan, ordered by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, and $31 million from the sale of bond anticipation notes (BANs) to private individuals and philanthropic foundations. These funds will support stem cell research in California, at least until the litigation challenging the voters' right to fund it through general obligation bonds concludes. As a result, on February 16, 2007, CIRM is expected to announce the award of at least 30 research grants totaling $24 million for human embryonic stem cell research in California. These will be the first research grants approved under Proposition 71, and as such, they represent a significant milestone for the pro-cures movement. Gov. Schwarzenegger was in San Francisco to herald the moment, so there is apparently strong support from the statehouse.
As I
wrote back in 2004, disease advocates, particularly type 1 diabetes advocates, were largely responsible for launching Proposition 71 and getting the measure approved by voters. They hope that embryonic stem cell research might enable a cure to be found, whether via culturing replacement insulin producing beta cells in a lab for transplantation, or by enabling the regeneration of beta cells combined with some way of arresting the autoimmune process which causes the disease in the first place.
With the first research grants for embryonic stem cell research finally being awarded, perhaps the real work -- research -- can finally begin!
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 
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