[In Depth] California stem cell agency plots a race to the clinic

Science: Current Issue
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is at a key juncture. Over the past decade, it has spent a large portion of its $3 billion budget nurturing fledgling disease therapies, including 23 that have reached clinical trials. But many of its projects won't be ready to test in humans by the time its state funding runs out. Last month, CIRM's governing board approved an ambitious 5-year plan to award the last of its funds in the next 5 years—and to attract pharmaceutical companies and investors that could carry these projects forward in its absence. But the agency's leadership is also eying new sources of funding to keep it afloat after 2020. Author: Kelly Servick
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