Thursday, May 24, 2012

Voice of Regenerative Medicine (VORM). CIRM Board Issued Deceptive RFA 12-05 to Misappropriate Public Funds for Stem Cell Research to Sink Regenerative Medicine Startups and Mandate Conflict-of-Interest Incentives to Large Industry

Voice of Regenerative Medicine (VORM). California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) board issued 5th deceptive RFA 12-05 of the year (CIRM Strategic Partnership I Awards) to misappropriate public funds for stem cell research and therapy development to sink emerging growth Regenerative Medicine Startups, improperly divert public funds away from stem cell therapy development of Prop71, and mandate conflict-of-interest incentives to conventional drug development and commercially non-viable products of large industry against the law.


Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research and therapy development is emerging growth biotechnology/therapeutic startup in Regenerative Medicine made possible by California Stem Cell Research & Cure Bond Act (Prop71) to develop the next generation of cell based therapeutic solutions to relieve $Bs of health care burden of worldwide major health problems. Prop71 has been the only source of government funding protected by law for clinical development of hESC-based stem cell therapy for unmet medical needs. Despite available new technologies and scientific advances for commercial validation and clinical development of life-saving stem cell therapies provided by the tremendous potential of hESCs, CIRM has been denying emerging growth hESC stem cell therapy development of Regenerative Medicine Startups of lawful funding from Prop71 and millions of patients the opportunity of treatment and cure from the advance of stem cell research. Under CIRM’s new leadership, CIRM board has not issued one single RFA to promote hESC research and stem cell therapy development and help the growth of emerging Regenerative Medicine Startups of the law. Instead, CIRM board continues to issue very deceptive RFAs to misuse public funds to exclusively serve the financial conflicts of interest of CIRM board members. CIRM scientific review boards and Alan Trounson have access to ample information to know that the Geron had already failed their spinal cord trial, but still staged the $20M award to give patients the false hope and waste public funds, so did for hundreds of millions of Prop71 funds CIRM give to not-commercial-validated stem cell frauds such as mesenschymal stem cells/iPS junk cells not eligible for Prop71. Despite public outcry and state’s budget crisis, CIRM board members continue to embezzle public funds for stem cell research on personal uses and overspend on their outrageous salaries and activities/contracts unrelated to stem cell research. Under increasingly public pressure for transparency and accountability, CIRM appears to begin to improve its performance by issuing RFA 12-05 to claim to engage industry to transform into cures the stem cell research it has funded over the last seven years. However, CIRM RFA12-05 is very deceptive, which contains unlawful exclusionary eligibility criteria hidden in its fine-prints and allows conventional drug development and commercially non-viable products not eligible for Prop71 to improperly divert public funds away from stem cell research to serve exclusively unlawful special financial interests of CIRM board members and their drug development companys. CIRM RFA 12-05 contains large up-front investment, notably sunk costs, requirement to small emerging growth startups, which creates high barriers to entry for commercial-validated emerging growth hESC stem cell therapy development of Regenerative Medicine Startups and is prohibited by the United States antitrust law. Prop71 fund/capital is earmarked for new promising commercial-validated pluriprotent stem/progenitor therapy development. Such large up-front investment requirement would only become a block or high barrier for stem cell startups & novel commercial-validated stem cell therapy development and make it difficult for better and more affordable stem cell therapy validated commercially by Prop71 to enter clinical trials and the therapeutic market, and would not become incentives to Prop71’s commercial-validated stem cell therapy development and entry of clinical trials as CIRM RFA 12-05 claims to be. VORM condemns CIRM board members misuse authority for embezzlement of public funds for stem cell research; urges CIRM to follow the law and scientific merits of Prop71 to issue RFAs to provide lawful incentives to emerging growth hESC stem cell therapy development of Regenerative Medicine Startups.

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