CIRM tells oversight committee it is expanding trials, workforce programs and patient support while addressing performance-audit findings

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) presented a broad strategic update May 29 to the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee, outlining priorities for deploying Prop 14 funding, education and workforce programs, clinical trials and early-stage commercialization efforts while describing steps taken to address findings in a recent performance audit.

Dr. Jonathan Thomas, speaking for CIRM, summarized the agency’s mission "accelerating world class science to deliver transformative regenerative medicine treatments in an equitable manner to a diverse California and the world," reviewed CIRM’s history under Propositions 71 and 14, and described program pillars that include basic research, translational work and clinical trials. He told the Committee that draft slides in the packet showed CIRM had put out roughly "$4,100,000,000.0 in grants to date" (figures were noted as drafted earlier in the year and subject to update) and that Prop 14 included a $1.5 billion target for neurological disorders.

On clinical programs and commercialization, Dr. Thomas emphasized CIRM’s role in 'derisking' early-stage projects so they attract follow-on investment and said awardees have attracted substantial private investment; the presentation cited a leveraged-investment figure (slide text) of roughly $24.7 billion. CIRM described the Alpha Clinic network, which the agency said has supported more than 200 clinical trials with over 1,000 participants across 40 diseases, and previewed a new CLIN 4 program to support projects approaching FDA licensure.

Dr. Thomas also introduced a patient support program and a patient assistance fund intended to cover trial-related costs (transportation, lodging, food) for participants. He said CIRM has engaged a vendor, Avarsana, "to oversee the development of the patient support program and the deployment of the patient assistance fund," and that policy and operational rules remain under development with the accessibility and affordability working group.

Committee members pressed on commercialization metrics and royalties. Doctor John Ma asked how many FDA-approved therapies have resulted from CIRM-funded work and whether royalty revenue could be increased to demonstrate program value. Dr. Thomas replied that the field is still maturing, "we have had none that have got commercialized yet," and explained that royalty-sharing provisions are prescribed by the propositions; under Prop 14, royalty payments directed to the state are routed into the patient assistance fund rather than to the agency for discretionary use.

On inclusion and workforce development, members asked for geographic and demographic breakdowns and evidence of recruitment from underserved communities for CIRM education programs (SPARK and others). Dr. Thomas and CIRM staff said the programs prioritize diversity and outreach and committed to provide more detailed breakdowns and workforce data to the Committee.

CIRM then presented management responses to the 2022–23 performance audit. Rafael Aguirre Sacasa reviewed findings and described actions taken or planned: organizational changes to reduce CEO span of control, measures to increase board engagement and in-person attendance, adjustments in procurement recording for sole-source contracts, a policy update to replace LIBOR references with SOFR for loan terms, implementation of regular grantee disclosure surveys to track IP and commercialization, continued development of the patient-support program including reporting requirements, and a data-governance framework and public metadata dashboard in planning to improve data sharing and reporting.

Aguirre Sacasa also summarized HR improvements: a revised compensation plan under review, new HR hiring that reduced onboarding times from months to under two months, and a revised telework policy with required anchor days intended to improve collaboration. On IT and records management, CIRM said it will consolidate document management in Microsoft 365, continue enhancing its Grants Management System, and evaluate CRM solutions with implementation targets over the next fiscal years.

What happens next: CIRM committed to supply additional demographic, geographic and patient-support metrics and to continue addressing audit findings according to timelines the agency described. The Committee recorded the item as information-only and took no formal action.