California Governor Schwarzenegger Applauds $750 Million Investment in Stem Cell Infrastructure

02/28/2008 -- California Governor Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement regarding the announcement that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Major Facilities Grants program is expected to generate approximately $750 million for new stem cell research facilities throughout California:

"I am excited that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is announcing $750 million in public-private partnership investments for stem cell research infrastructure in California. This is exactly the sort of timely infrastructure investment California needs to stay competitive, improve our quality of life and offset the slowdown our state is experiencing in other economic sectors.

Article continues below...

"Additionally, this investment furthers our important life sciences and medical technology industries and fits into my Research and Innovation Initiative that I announced in 2007. Most importantly, this is an investment that can save lives. It's innovative financing like this that our state needs as we renew our focus on developing public-private partnerships to address California's infrastructure needs."

In his 2007 state of the state speech the Governor noted that by nearly any measure, California is the national leader in innovation. To maintain California's leadership in the fastest growing fields, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed $253.4 million in the 2007-08 budget to support research at the University of California, and his Strategic Research and Innovation Initiative will provide $95 million to major projects in three key sectors: "clean" technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

In response to a presidential veto of legislation to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, in 2006, the Governor directed the state to issue a loan of up to $150 million to strengthen California's voter-approved stem cell research efforts that offer the potential for new treatments for debilitating and deadly diseases.

In 2004, California voters approved Proposition 71 to devote $3 billion to stem cell research and create CIRM. So far, CIRM has funded 156 grants totaling nearly $260 million to 22 California non-profit and academic institutions.

Source: California Governor