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New Ties to Big Pharma and Venture Capital Proposed at California Stem Cell Agency

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The $3 billion California stem cell
agency wants to recruit major biotech and venture capital firms to
help provide tens of millions of dollars in research awards to
California enterprises.
It's part of a move to “jump start”
partnerships in a relatively new, $80 million, business-friendly program that is aimed at pushing therapies into the
marketplace. The recruitment plan will come before the agency's governing board at its meeting next Wednesday in San Diego. 
Participating companies will have a
special relationship with the state agency, including early input
into concept funding proposals prior to their being presented to the
agency's governing board. The “industry collaborators” will also
be able to attend agency workshops and meetings involving
hundreds of grant recipients. Presumably other, non-collaborating
firms would be barred.
Other provisions of the plan call for
special event-hosting arrangements aimed at creating more
collaborations and posting of information from the selected
collaborators on the CIRM website.
According to a CIRM staff document, the
initiative would be limited to biotech and pharmaceutical firms with
a market capitalization of at least $500 million and “qualified
venture capital firms.” The document did not define what a
“qualified a venture capital firm” is. The document also appeared
to bar participation of privately held firms because of the “market
capitalization” criteria, which typically uses a formula involving
publicly traded shares.
Elona Baum, the agency's general
counsel and vice president, business development, said in a statement
provided to the California Stem Cell Report,

“This is aimed at trying to jump
start the creation of the partnerships that are required to satisfy
the commercial validation requirements of the Strategic Partnership
Funding Initiative so that timelines are better synced-up as between
our review and approval cycles for the Strategic Partnership RFAs and
the lengthy time required for investors to conduct due diligence and
negotiate an agreement with prospective applicants to Strategic
Partnership RFAs.  CIRM's independent review and approval
remains the same and is wholly independent. While there may be input
given to a particular RFA it only at the high level concept stage and
of course CIRM has no obligation to agree. In the context of the
Strategic Partnership awards, CIRM wants to fund innovative high
quality science that has attracted additional  investors.
 Investors will help leverage CIRM fund and will be an important
source of future funding to further the project.”  

Source:
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  1. Stem Cell Therapy
  2. New Ties to Big Pharma