FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Amy Adams
Senior Director of Communications
press@cirm.ca.gov
South San Francisco, CA, June 25, 2026 – The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) governing board today approved funding of over $40 million for four new preclinical development awards and nearly $21 million to support three clinical trials aimed at testing potential therapies for multiple sclerosis, a form of brain cancer, and a rare genetic disease called FOXG1. These awards continue CIRM’s more than twenty-year investment in research and clinical trials aimed at bringing novel stem cell and gene therapies to the people of California.
In addition, the board approved the largest research budget in CIRM’s history for the Fiscal Year 2026/27 budget year that begins July 1, allocating $662 million for new awards.
Clinical Awards
| Application #: | Program Title: | Principal Investigator/Institution: | Amount: |
| CLIN2-19848 | A Phase 1/2a First-in-Human, Dose-Escalation Study to Evaluate TRX319 in Subjects with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis | M. Londei – TR1X, Inc. | $8,000,000 |
| CLIN2-19928 | Phase 1/2 Study of FRF-001, an AAV-9 Gene Therapy, in Patients with FOXG1 Syndrome (FS) | G. Ayalon – FOXG1 Research Foundation | $4,928,664 |
| CLIN2-19526 | SRN-101 AAV Immuno-Gene Therapy for High-Grade Glioma | N.Paulk – Siren Biotechnology, Inc. | $7,999,774 |
Preclinical Development Awards
| Application #: | Program Title: | Principal Investigator/Institution: | Amount: |
| PDEV-19735 | Hypoimmune Stem Cell-Derived Islets: A Next-Generation Cell Therapy Toward a Functional Cure for Type 1 Diabetes | S. Schrepfer – EVADE Therapeutics | $12,480,000 |
| PDEV-19727 | Regenerating the Acutely Infarcted Heart with iPSC-Ventricular Cardiomyocytes | C. Murry – University of Southern California | $7,499,998 |
| PDEV-19742 | Therapeutic Restoration of Immune Function through iPSC-derived Human Thymic Epithelial Cells | K. Weinacht – Stanford University | $12,999,871 |
| PDEV-19725 | Stem Cell-Engineered Off-The-Shelf CAR-NKT Cell Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis | L. Yang – University of California, Los Angeles | $7,499,996 |
About the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
CIRM was created by the people of California to fund stem cell and gene therapy research with the goal of accelerating treatments for patients with unmet medical needs. With $8.5 billion in funding allocated through both Proposition 71 in 2004 and Proposition 14 in 2020, CIRM supports stem cell and gene therapy discoveries from inception through clinical trials, trains a workforce in California to fill jobs in the state’s thriving biotech and biomedical research industry, and creates infrastructure to make clinical trials accessible for people throughout California. All of CIRM’s research, workforce development, and infrastructure programs are designed to benefit the people of California, whose vision created the agency. For more information, visit www.cirm.ca.gov.