Last week, StemCells was awarded $20 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to fund preclinical development of the company’s human neural stem cells as a potential treatment for cervical spinal cord injury. In sum, the agency awarded over $150 million to promising stem cell therapeutics, with StemCells being the only company to receive an award.
Disease advocates speak on July 26, 2012, in Burlingame, Calif., where the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine decided whether to approve more than $100 million in funding. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle / SF
Funds from this award will be applied over a four-year period, with the goal of filing an investigational new drug (IND) application in that time. Currently, StemCells is evaluating the same neural stem cells in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury, a Phase 1 clinical trial in a rare myelination disorder, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), which holds applications for multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy, as well as a Phase 1 trial in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
A decision on an Alzheimer’s disease application submitted by the company was deferred to CIRM’s Grants Working Group for further consideration, and is expected to be reviewed at the next meeting of its governing board currently scheduled for September 6th.
Read more about the StemCells’ award as well as other projects funded by CIRM in the article below from the San Francisco Chronicle.
