Three CIRM-Funded Stem Cell Research Buildings Open In One Week —More Science, More Jobs, More Therapies

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — With tomorrow’s opening of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of Southern California, 320,000 square feet of new stem cell research space will have come online in California in just one week, all of it funded only with state, institutional and private philanthropic funds freeing the facilities of any federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.

Collectively the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state stem cell agency created by Proposition 71, contributed $90.5 million to the three facilities. That funding leveraged an added $235 million in donor and institutional contributions to build $325 million worth of state-of-the-art research space expanding California’s capacity to lead the world in the rapidly accelerating field of regenerative medicine. The three buildings have the capacity to house nearly 1,000 members of research teams.

“USC’s world class stem cell research institute marks the full launch of the stem cell revolution in California,” said Robert Klein, Chair of the CIRM Governing Board. “The extraordinary leadership of USC’s scientists and clinicians lift the critical mass of researchers and vital research facilities, like the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, around the state, which will drive the creation of therapies for patients across the globe suffering from chronic disease and injury.”

The five-story USC facility has 87,500 square feet of space and cost $80 million to construct. A $30 million gift from the Broad Foundation added to the $27 million grant from CIRM.

The week started off with Monday’s opening of another CIRM-Broad collaboration, the Broad Stem Cell Research Center—California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. The stem cell institute is one floor in the Terasaki Life Science Building that officially opened that day.

The stem cell floor provides 34,500 square feet of new space. It cost $43 million including a CIRM grant for $20 million and a gift from the Broad Foundation of $20 million.

Mid-week, Stanford opened the largest stem cell facility in the nation on Wednesday, the 200,000 square-foot Lorry J. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building. Stanford Alum Lorry Lokey contributed $75 million to the facility, while the CIRM grant covered $43.6 million. The four-story facility will house 33 distinct laboratories.

Three other CIRM-funded facilities opened earlier this year at UC Davis, UC Irvine and UC Berkeley collectively providing 250,000 square feet of space. That leaves six of the 12 CIRM funded major facilities yet to come on line. All but one of those will open next year.

About CIRM CIRM was established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities

For images of the new facilities, visit CIRM’s Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cirm/sets/72157614024610792/

Contact:
Don Gibbons
dgibbons@cirm.ca.gov
(415) 396-9117