All this month we are using our blog and social media to highlight a new chapter in CIRM’s life, thanks to the voters approving Proposition 14. We are looking back at what we have done since we were created in 2004, and also looking forward to the future.Today we have a guest blog by CIRM Senior Science Officer Lisa Kadyk, outlining how she and her colleagues actively search for the best science to fund.
Lisa Kadyk, Ph.D.
Hi everyone,
This is Lisa Kadyk, a Science Officer from the CIRM Therapeutics team, here to tell you about some of the work our team does to support the CIRM mission of accelerating stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. Our job involves seeking out and recruiting great scientists to apply to CIRM and supporting those we fund.
Therapeutics team members manage both the awards that fund the final preclinical studies required before testing a therapeutic in a clinical trial (CLIN1), and the awards that fund the clinical trials themselves (CLIN2).
I mentioned above that we actively recruit new applicants for our CLIN1 and CLIN2 awards – which is not an activity that is typical of most funding agencies – so why and how do we do this?
It all comes down to our mission of accelerating the development of therapies to help patients with unmet medical needs. It turns out that there are many potential applicants developing cutting edge therapies who don’t know much or anything about CIRM, and the ways we can help them with getting those therapies to the clinic and through clinical trials. So, to bridge this gap, we Science Officers attend scientific conferences, read the scientific literature and meet regularly with each other to stay abreast of new therapeutic approaches being developed in both academia and industry, with the goal of identifying and reaching out to potential applicants about what CIRM has to offer.
What are some of the things we tell potential applicants about how partnering with CIRM can help accelerate their programs? First of all, due to the efforts of a very efficient Review team, CIRM is probably the fastest in the business for the time between application and potential funding. It can be as short as three months for a CLIN1 or CLIN2 application to be reviewed by the external Grants Working Group and approved by the CIRM Board, whereas the NIH (for example) estimates it takes seven to ten months to fund an application. Second, we have frequent application deadlines (monthly for CLIN1 and CLIN2), so we are always available when the applicant is ready to apply. Third, we have other accelerating mechanisms in place to help grantees once they’ve received funding, such as the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics network of six clinical sites throughout California (more efficient clinical trial processes and patient recruitment) and Clinical Advisory Panels (CAPs) – that provide technical, clinical or regulatory expertise as well as patient advocate guidance to the grantee. Finally, we Science Officers do our best to help every step of the way, from application through grant closeout.
We now feel confident that our recruitment efforts, combined with CIRM’s more efficient funding pipeline and review processes, are accelerating development of new therapies. Back in 2016, a new CIRM Strategic Plan included the goal of recruiting 50 successful (i.e., funded) clinical trial applicants within five years. This goal seemed like quite a stretch, since CIRM had funded fewer than 20 clinical trials in the previous ten years. Fast-forward to the end of 2020, and CIRM had funded 51 new trials in those five years, for a grand total of 68 trials.
Now, with the passage of Proposition 14 this past November, we are looking forward to bringing more cell and gene therapeutic candidates into clinical trials. If you are developing one yourself, feel free to let us know… or don’t be surprised if you hear from us!
