News that a stem cell transplant at City of Hope helped a man with HIV achieve long‑term remission made headlines worldwide—and rightly so. It’s a major achievement, especially because the 66‑year‑old patient had lived with HIV since 1988.

What wasn’t highlighted is that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine supported the work that made this possible.

The Stem Cell Transplant

In addition to living with HIV, the patient was diagnosed with acute leukemia. City of Hope doctors found a donor who was a perfect match—and who also carried a rare genetic mutation that provides resistance to most strains of HIV.

By transplanting the donor’s blood stem cells, the team sent both the leukemia and HIV into remission. The patient stopped all antiretroviral medications 17 months ago and today shows no detectable HIV.

In a news release, City of Hope hematologist Ahmed Aribi, M.D., said the patient didn’t experience any serious complications after the procedure.

“This patient had a high risk for relapsing from AML [acute myeloid leukemia], making his remission even more remarkable and highlighting how City of Hope provides excellent care treating complicated cases of AML and other blood cancers.”

It’s a remarkable achievement and is only the fifth time that a patient with both HIV and leukemia has been put into remission after a transplant from an HIV-resistant donor.

CIRM’s Contribution

So, what does that have to do with CIRM? CIRM’s Alpha Clinics Network helped City of Hope secure Institutional Review Board approval for this case and helped collect and ship donor blood. In addition, the Alpha Clinics team at UC San Diego assisted with reservoir analysis of blood and gut biopsies to check for remaining HIV.

This is a reminder that achievements like this are team efforts—and CIRM excels at building and supporting teams. Alpha Clinics Network is a perfect example. We created it to establish world‑class medical facilities with the experience to deliver a new kind of therapy. The network has been highly successful, supporting more than 200 clinical trials, caring for more than 1,000 patients, and treating more than 40 diseases.

This year, our Board approved expanding these clinics to better serve Californians.

The Alpha Clinics Network’s role in helping this one patient may seem small, but it was essential. And we are not stopping here. We have invested more than $79 million in 19 different projects, including four clinical trials.

We are in this for the long term, and results like this patient’s remission show we are heading in the right direction.