It’s hard to get somewhere if you don’t know where you are going. Without a map you can’t plan a route to your destination. That’s why the CIRM Board approved a new Strategic Plan laying out a roadmap for the Stem Cell Agency for the next five years.

The plan builds on the achievements of Proposition 71, the voter approved ballot initiative that created the Agency in 2004, including:

• Supporting 76 clinical trials.
• Helping cure more than 40 children born with a rare, fatal immune disorder.
• Creating the Alpha Clinics Network that specializes in the delivery of stem cell therapies to patients.
• Training over 3000 students and scholars to become the future workforce of regenerative medicine.
• Stimulating California’s economy with $10.7 Billion in additional sales revenue and the creation of 56,000 new jobs (between 2004-2018)

The passage of Proposition 14 in 2020 has positioned CIRM to continue to accelerate research from discovery to clinical; to drive innovative, real-world solutions resulting in transformative treatments for patients; and to ensure the affordability and accessibility of those treatments to a diverse community of patients in an equitable manner, including those often overlooked or underrepresented in the past.

“We achieved a lot in the last 15 years and this provides a solid foundation for our strategy to bring us to the new era of CIRM and to deliver the full potential of regenerative medicine, says Dr. Maria T. Millan, the President and CEO of CIRM. “This plan lays out a roadmap for us to overcome the challenges in developing transformative therapies and making them accessible and affordable in an equitable fashion to a diverse California. The plan will guide us in that work through the development of novel scientific endeavors, effective healthcare delivery models, and expanded education and training programs.”

The Strategic Plan is organized into three main themes:

• Advance World Class Science – Foster a culture of collaborative science by creating knowledge networks and shared research tools and technologies that encourage and facilitate data and resource sharing.
• Deliver Real World Solutions – Accelerate approval of therapies by optimizing our support models for CIRM-funded clinical trials with attention to including underserved communities; build the California Manufacturing Network to overcome manufacturing hurdles; and expand the Alpha Clinics network and create the Community Care Centers of Excellence to deliver therapies to a diverse patient population often in underserved communities.
• Provide Opportunity for All – Build a racially, ethnically and experientially diverse and highly skilled workforce to support the growing regenerative medicine economy in California; deliver a roadmap for access and affordability of regenerative medicine for all California patients.

Reflecting these goals, CIRM’s new mission statement is: Accelerating world class science to deliver transformative regenerative medicine treatments in an equitable manner to a diverse California and world.

“We realize that these are ambitious goals but they are achievable,” says Dr. Millan, “If CIRM is going to continue to be a global leader in the field of regenerative medicine, and to live up to the faith shown in us by the people of California, we believe we have to aim high. We have a terrific team, a clear vision and a determination to fulfill our mission. And that’s what we intend to do.”