The $8.4 billion bond is backed by a host of disease advocacy groups like the Alzheimer’s Association and the Parkinson Association of Northern California.
SACRAMENTO, California — An $8.4 billion medical research bond has qualified for the November ballot, the secretary of state announced Tuesday night.
The “California Immunology Research and Cures Initiative” would fund research for therapies and cures for diseases like heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s. It is meant to specifically fund therapies in immunotherapy, which uses the body’s immune system to attack diseases like cancer.
“Breakthrough immunotherapies are already saving lives,” Gary K. Michelson, chair of the California Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, and the main funder of the measure, said in a statement. “Patients who once had no options are living longer today because researchers continued pushing science forward. This initiative will help California remain at the forefront of developing cures and life-saving treatments for generations to come.”
Why it matters: The bond will likely be the only one on the November ballot funding medical research. A different one, a $12 billion measure pushed by state Sen. Scott Wiener, is unlikely to make it to the ballot. Both bonds were designed to provide stable science funding amid federal cuts.
Wiener said the immunology bond is too narrow, telling POLITICO before it officially qualified that it should instead have been folded into his proposal.
“The legislature and the governor should place a science bond on the ballot that actually addresses the broad problem that we have,” Wiener said, “which is a huge threat to California around a brain drain and losing our global leadership on science.”
Inside the bond: The $8.4 billion bond is backed by a host of disease advocacy groups like the Alzheimer’s Association and the Parkinson Association of Northern California, and is primarily being pushed by Michelson, a doctor and philanthropist. The money would be split between a UC-affiliated medical research institute and a grant program for public or nonprofit research institutions.
Under the measure, half the bond would go to researching treatments for cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Any resulting immunology technology or drugs would be sold at prices 20 percent lower than the national average, and 10 percent of the proceeds from licensing cures would be used to pay back the bond.
What’s next: Early voting starts October 5.