Industry Alliance Program – Highlighted Partnership Events
Something
better
than hope.
Right now.
CIRM nurtures and de-risks stem-cell based therapy development programs through pre-clinical and clinical stages, thereby readying them for industry partnerships.
With remarkable year-on-year growth CIRM-funded programs have attracted substantial industry investment.
HIGHLIGHTED PARTNERSHIP EVENTS
Forty Seven, Inc., which was acquired by Gilead Sciences for $4.9B on April 7, 2020, is developing cancer immunotherapies targeting the CD47-SIRP-alpha pathway. CIRM funded the preclinical and early clinical development of the lead anti-CD47 antibody candidate at Stanford and subsequently funded two Forty Seven clinical trials.
jCyte is a Newport Beach company developing a human retinal progenitor cell therapy aimed at treating retinitis pigmentosa. CIRM has funded previous preclinical development and ongoing clinical studies for this therapy. On May 8th, 2020, jCyte entered an ex-US licensing and commercialization agreement with Santen Pharmaceutical and will receive up to $252M, which includes $62M in up-front cash.
Poseida Therapeutics is a San Diego company developing CAR-T therapies, based on stem cell memory T cells, targeting cancer and orphan diseases. CIRM has awarded $24M in two programs and Poseida leveraged that support to raise $172.5M in venture financing including a $75M Series C investment from Novartis in 2019.
Viacyte is a San Diego company developing stem cell-based islet cell replacement therapy for diabetes. Viacyte has been awarded a total of $72M in CIRM funding since 2009. In 2018, Viacyte raised $100M in financing from strategic partnerships with CRISPR Therapeutics and Gore Medical and a Series D venture round.
Humacyte is a North Carolina company developing bioengineered blood vessels. CIRM has awarded $24M to support California trial sites for its pivotal phase 3 trials. In 2018, Humacyte raised $225M in venture financing and a strategic partnership with Fresenius.