CIRM helping stem cell scientists and investors pair up

In La Jolla, stem cell scientists, companies and investors are engaging in a series of CIRM-sponsored get-to-know-you meetings as part of the first ever partnering forum in conjunction with the annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa. These meetings are part of CIRM's ramped-up efforts to help scientists overcome obstacles on the path to clinical trials.

Elona Baum, CIRM General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development, was one of the primary organizers of the Investor and Partnering Forum. She said:

"The forum will feature company presentations and industry discussion panels on regulatory, finance, commercialization and reimbursement issues. The Forum will provide the opportunity for hundreds of business, academic research and investor participants to connect for one-on-one meetings and strategic partnering."

CIRM has 43 projects in various stages of working toward clinical trials (more information about those projects is available here). Getting from their current status through clinical trials will require significant investment. It takes big money to gather the kind of preclinical data the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to see before allowing a product to enter first-in-human clinical trials. CIRM funds preclinical through early phase clinical trials, but researchers in academia also need to seek funding from other sources to gather sufficient data, and engage industry partners early to help carry their work into the clinic and the subsequent development steps towards regulatory approval.

Forming the partnerships that will allow academic researchers and researchers at young biotech firms to see their work eventually reach clinical trials is what the La Jolla meetings are all about. It's a chance for stem cell researchers to pitch their work to investors in the hopes of finding a good fit. They can also attend a series of sessions about how to navigate the regulatory pathway and form collaborations, among other sessions.

This forum is one of several ways CIRM is trying to help academic scientists succeed in getting their research translated into therapies. CIRM continues to hold conversations, roundtables and webinars with the FDA, the agency regulating investigational products and whether and when they can enter clinical trials. By having conversations now, CIRM can help researchers meet FDA requirements enabling them to enter their products into clinical trials. CIRM’s webinars to inform its grantees about different areas of stem cell research and the regulatory path are also publicly available to view on the CIRM website.

A.A.