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StemCells, Inc., Nails Down Controversial, $19 Million Award from California Stem Cell Agency

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The stock price of StemCells, Inc.,
price today jumped as much as 9 percent after the company disclosed
it had finally concluded an agreement with the California stem cell
agency for a $19.3 million forgivable loan for research twice rejected by the agency's scientific reviewers..

The stem cell agency governing board seven months ago approved the loan to the Newark, Ca., firm. But the
cash was withheld until the financially strapped company could
demonstrate that it could match the size of the loan, as promised in
its application.
The StemCells, Inc., (SCI) application
was nixed two times in 2012 by the agency's scientific reviewers who gave it a
score of 61. In a controversial move, the 29-member board approved the award in early September on a 7-5 vote after former agency
chairman Robert Klein intervened publicly on behalf of the firm. It was the first time that Klein had lobbied the board publicly on behalf of an application. It was also the first time that the board
approved an application that was rejected twice by its reviewers, a
panel of internationally recognized stem cell scientists.
In a press release, Martin McGlynn,
CEO of StemCells, Inc., said,

"With CIRM's support, we are now
able to lay the groundwork that could result in the world's first
neural stem cell trial in Alzheimer's patients."

Both the company and the $3 billion
state research agency were tight-lipped about the nature of the
matching funds from the company, which reported losses of $28.5
million in 2012 on revenues of $1.4 million.
In a brief response to questions from the
California Stem Cell Report, McGlynn said, 

 “At this time, we
do not intend to elaborate any further on the contents of our press
releases or public filings pertaining to the SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) or CIRM(the stem cell agency) loans.”

Earlier this week, the company reported receiving a $10 million loan from Silicon Valley Bank. Both McGlynn
and the stem cell agency did not answer a question about whether
those funds are being used to back the award from California
taxpayers.
The agency confirmed that the firm was
providing $19.3 million in matching resources. But Kevin McCormack,
senior director of public communications, did not provide any
specifics on the nature of the match. He only said,

“The matching  requires
them to demonstrate they have enough funds necessary to
fund SCI’s share going forward as well as their own
operations and other commitments.”

The award was originally for $20
million. We have queried the agency about the smaller figure
announced today.
The company's stock price rose as high as $1.87 earlier today after closing at $1.71 yesterday. It stood at
$1.77 at the time of this writing. Its 52 week high is $2.67, and its
52 week low is $0.59. The loan from Silicon Valley Bank gives the
bank warrants to purchase 293,531 shares of the company at $1.70 over
the next 10 years.
The 10-year loan from CIRM is low risk for the
company, which said its “obligation to repay the loan will be
contingent upon the success” of the research. If a product is
developed, it will take years before it could hit the market.
The award to StemCells, Inc., put
the stem cell agency in a touchy situation involving the company's decision last month to reject an additional $20 million award from
the agency.( It was the first time a recipient has rejected an award.) Neither the company nor the agency would give a reason for
the rejection of the loan for a spinal injury project . However, the
award also required a $20 million match, which undoubtedly tested the company's resources.
The spinal injury application was
scored at 79 by agency reviewers and was routinely approved by the
board. With its withdrawal by the company, the agency, which prides
itself on funding only the best science, was left supporting research
(StemCells, Inc.'s Alzheimer's project) judged significantly inferior
by reviewers with its score of 61.
In response to a question about that
situation, CIRM's McCormack said,

“Our goal is to always fund the best,
most promising science. This is not the first time that our board has
voted to fund a project that the Grants Review Group had not
recommended (this has happened in around 2% of cases) The board did
so for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that this was
the first disease team application that had a goal of  moving a
promising stem cell therapy for Alzheimer's towards clinical
trials.”

The round in question, however, had another application dealing with Alzheimer's which was scored at 63,
two points higher than the one from StemCells, Inc. Reviewers also did not recommend funding that application.
The action last September by the
agency board came only after it publicly said the funds would not be
distributed until the StemCells, Inc., could show it could provide
the match, still another first for the agency.
The award triggered a column in
the Los Angeles Times by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Michael
Hiltzik, who said in October that  the
process was “redolent of cronyism.” He said a “charmed
relationship” existed among StemCells, Inc., its “powerful
friends” and the stem cell agency.
StemCells, Inc., was founded by
Stanford researcher Irv Weissman, who was a major fundraiser for
Proposition 71, which created the stem cell agency in 2004. Klein
headed the ballot campaign, which spent more than $30 million to win
voter approval. Weissman sits on board of directors of StemCells,
Inc., and holds 124,608 shares in the firm, including 8,630 he reported this month receiving.

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  1. Stem Cell Therapy
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