CIRM expands COVID-19 program

On May 22, 2020, the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) expanded efforts related to the $5 million in emergency funding for the CIRM COVID-19 program.

The new guidelines mean that inception discovery projects (DISC1), whose goal is developing new and transformational ideas, will now be eligible for CIRM COVID-19 funding.  These projects can receive up to $150,000 and must have data to confirm or reject their hypothesis within 6 months. In addition to this, quest discovery projects (DISC2), which promote the discovery of new technologies that could be translated to enable broad use, can now receive up to $250,000 in funding.

The Board approved using $1 million from the program in supplemental support for CIRM-funded COVID-19 clinical trials. Under the change an existing clinical trial can receive up to $250,000 in additional funding but must demonstrate sufficient progress and specific activities in order to be eligible.  The Board will also require that all clinical trial projects include a plan for outreach and study participation by underserved and disproportionately affected populations.

The Board also strongly encouraged those that meet the stem cell component for vaccine development for COVID-19 to apply for funding.

“We continue to receive large amounts of inquiries and applications to the COVID-19 program announcement,” said Maria T. Millan, M.D., President and CEO of CIRM. “The amendments passed by our Board today will provide additional opportunities for CIRM to support novel vaccine development, fundamental discoveries and the acceleration of clinical programs.”

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