Media Release: VICTORIA-CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE TO HELP TURN STEM CELL RESEARCH INTO TREATMENT AND CURES

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

DATE: Thursday, June 19, 2008

VICTORIA-CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE TO HELP TURN STEM CELL RESEARCH INTO TREATMENT AND CURES

A historic agreement to establish a pan-Pacific “stem cell airbridge” between Victoria and the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will empower collaboration between local scientists and California scientists to help turn Victorian discoveries into worldwide treatments.

Premier John Brumby and Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings today signed the Victoria-California Stem Cell Alliance with the institute’s President Alan Trounson and Chairman Robert Klein, at BIO 2008, an international biotechnology convention in San Diego, California.

“Victoria and California are world leaders in biotechnology and stem cell research,” Mr Brumby said.

“The stem cell alliance builds on existing links between California and Victoria in information and communications technology and climate change.

“We are two of the world’s leading jurisdictions in tackling the leading global issues and we share the common goal of helping our best and brightest to tackle these issues.”

Mr Jennings said the alliance would help establish strategic, collaborative projects on stem cell research with a particular focus on accelerating treatments of disease.

“By collaborating with the world’s largest stem cell organisation, Victoria will continue to build its leadership position in stem cell research and pioneering new treatments,” Mr Jennings said.

“We have led this field from the very start with Alan Trounson’s pioneering work in IVF and, in recent times, the discovery of breast stem cells at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

“But no jurisdiction can do it alone, so it makes sense to connect with powerful partners such as California.”

Mr Trounson said California and Victoria were both focused on quickly driving stem cell research towards clinical applications.

“Accelerating the field of stem cell research as a whole is one of CIRM’s primary goals. In some instances, we can do this more effectively through collaborations that involve the best scientific endeavors, regardless of geography,” president of CIRM Dr Alan Trounson said.

“CIRM funds will continue to be earmarked only for research taking place within California, but this alliance will leverage the efforts of our research.”

CIRM was established in 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. To date CIRM has approved 168 research and facility grants totalling more than US$530 million.
“We have long envisioned a ‘stem cell air bridge’ between our California researchers and those in Australia and this alliance will help advance the already strong network of relationships many California scientist have with colleagues there,” chairman of the governing body of CIRM Robert N. Klein said.

“Our goal is to shorten the time that it takes to usher discoveries into the clinic and to patients and one way to do this is by extending collaborations such as this.”

CIRM and Victoria are laying the foundation for a three-year agreement under which they will jointly seek grant applications, evaluate them, and make recommendations for funding research activities.

The initial avenue for collaboration will be the CIRM Disease Team grants. These grants will provide an opportunity for researchers in California and Victoria to collaborate, broadening the potential pool of expertise that can be applied toward research in a specific area.

Victoria is home to more than 43 per cent of Australia’s medical research activity including specialist stem cell centres such as the Australian Stem Cell Centre, Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratory and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute.