StemCells (STEM) awarded CIRM Planning Grant
Grant to pursue preclinical development of HuCNS-SC Cells for Alzheimer’s disease
The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has approved the STEM’s application for a “Disease Team Therapy Development Planning Award.” The grant, totaling approximately $100K, will help fund its proprietary human neural stem cell product, HuCNS-SC® cells, in Alzheimer’s disease by enabling its collaborators at the UC, Irvine, to prepare and submit an application for a “Disease Team Therapy Development Research Award.”
- The CIRM has indicated that each Research Award will be up to $20M, payable over 4 years, to fund preclinical and IND-enabling activities with the aim of starting human clinical trials within the 4 year window. STEM was 1 of 4 companies awarded a disease team planning grant.
The Bottom Line: STEM has previously shown that human neural stem cells can survive in the hostile environment reflective of an Alzheimer’s brain. This award is an encouraging vote of confidence, and with CIRM’s help, STEM will be better able to pursue developing a stem cell-based therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. STEM opened at $2.54 but was down $0.06 (2.79%) to $2.42.
