While there have been some encouraging advances in treating cancer in recent decades, there are still many cancers that either resist treatment or recur after treatment. Today the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved investing in a therapy targeting some of these hard-to-treat tumors.
BioEclipse Therapeutics Inc. was awarded nearly $8M to test a therapy using immune cells loaded with a cancer-killing virus that targets cancer tissue but spares healthy tissue.
Cancer-killing cells
This is the 78th clinical trial funded directly by the Stem Cell Agency.
BioEclipse combines two approaches: cytokine‑induced killer cells and an engineered oncolytic virus. Together, they form a multi‑mechanistic targeted treatment.
Clinicians collect the patient’s immune cells and combine them with the virus in the lab. They then administer the cell‑virus mix back to the patient. CIK cells carry the virus to tumors. The virus attacks tumor cells and stimulates the patient’s immune system. The goal is to destroy the tumor and prevent relapse.
Dr. Maria T. Millan says the therapy targets chemotherapy‑resistant solid tumors. These include colorectal, triple‑negative breast, ovarian, gastric, liver, and bone cancers. She notes the approach addresses a major unmet need.
CIRM also approved more than $18 million for four Translational Projects. The program supports regenerative medicine projects that complete key steps needed for clinical studies or broad use.
The awards
| Application | Title | Institution | Award Amount |
| TRAN1-133442 | Optogenetic therapy for treating retinitis pigmentosa and other inherited retinal diseases | Paul Bresge Ray Therapeutics Inc. | $3,999,553 |
| TRAN3-13332 | Living Synthetic Vascular Grafts with Renewable Endothelium | Aijun Wang UC Davis | $3,112,567 |
| TRAN1-13370 | Next generation affinity-tuned CAR for prostate cancer | Preet Chaudhary University of Southern California | $5,805,144 |
| TRAN1-3345 | Autologous MPO Knock-Out Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension | Don Kohn UC Los Angeles | $5,207,434 |