In the addition to the innovative scientists and clinicians who conceive and develop novel experimental therapies, it takes a village to drive a promising experimental therapy through phases of clinical trials, regulatory marketing approval, and commercialization before it becomes broadly accessible to patients with unmet medical needs. In this case, the village is the broader industry including institutional investors and biopharma companies that have the capital, resources and expertise to carry the development programs past the finish line. 

A big part of what CIRM does revolves around nurturing projects at the very early stages. By providing funding and guidance through our collaborative team of experts, CIRM de-risks its therapy development programs through pre-clinical and clinical stages, thereby readying them for industry partnerships to support them through the last mile. CIRM funding to California academic institutions has enabled the launch of more than 40 spinout companies, one of which we will highlight below.

On April 7th, 2020, Forty Seven, Inc. was acquired by Gilead Sciences for $4.9 billion. CIRM funded the preclinical and early clinical development of an anti-CD47 antibody candidate for cancer at Stanford and subsequently funded two Forty Seven clinical trials. Now, Gilead will leverage all of its resources to accelerate the development of this promising cancer immunotherapy.

Dr. Mark Chao, Co-Founder, Forty Seven, Inc. had this to say about CIRM.

“CIRM’s support has been instrumental to our early successes and our ability to rapidly progress Forty Seven’s CD47 antibody targeting approach with magrolimab. CIRM was an early collaborator in our clinical programs and it’s support was instrumental in helping us reach a point where we could become a part of Gilead and move forward with our research.”

To proactively enable more partnering successes such as Forty Seven, CIRM has established the Industry Alliance Program (IAP) as a direct opportunity for the industry to partner with CIRM grantees in accelerating the most promising stem cell, gene and regenerative medicine therapy programs to commercialization. Through the IAP, CIRM is a dedicated and proactive partner to industry and CIRM grantees.

We recently launched a website for those interested in knowing more about these partnerships. It describes the IAP program in more detail can be accessed by clicking here.

If you are a potential industry partner wishing to learn more about CIRM’s IAP, please contact: