For the first time in its history, AAI is proud to endorse a state-level ballot initiative. If approved by voters in November, Proposition 38, The California Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative, will provide $8.4 billion in state bonds to fund immunology research directed toward developing life-saving immunotherapies for a wide range of diseases.
“Patients who once had no options are living longer today because researchers continued pushing science forward,” said Gary K. Michelson, MD, one of the organizers of the initiative. “This initiative will help California remain at the forefront of developing cures and life-saving treatments for generations to come.”
The Initiative is the result of a coalition of researchers, physicians, patient advocates, philanthropists, and business leaders coming together to develop a statewide solution. It took extensive legal and political research to design a ballot measure that is workable, politically viable, and fiscally responsible.
The Logical Next Step
Dr. Michelson has previously helped found the California institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy (CII) with a $120 million donation from the Michelson Medical Research Foundation. “The next logical step is to empower CIII and California’s other world-class medical research institutions to collaborate as an integrated innovation network,” he told AAI. “By fostering cooperation across the state’s leading research centers, California can create the premier global environment for breakthroughs in immunology, immunotherapy, and related biomedical sciences.”
Initiative Provisions
The $8.4 billion in funding, drawn from the state’s general fund, will be split equally between a University of California-affiliated nonprofit medical research institute and a grant program for public or nonprofit universities and institutions.
The Initiative requires that half of the research money goes to cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease research. It also requires funding recipients to sell any technology or drugs they develop for 20% below national average price.
State-Level Funding in a Time of Uncertainty
At the federal level, growing uncertainty around research funding threatens to slow progress, disrupt clinical trials, and delay lifesaving breakthroughs. State-level investment provides stability at a time when federal funding is increasingly uncertain and helps ensure that promising research can continue.
California has long been a global leader in scientific discovery and biomedical innovation. The stable, long-term investment this initiative would provide can ensure that promising research can continue. Dr. Michelson cited California’s preeminence in information technology as a model to create “a powerful engine of economic growth, high-quality jobs, scientific leadership, and societal benefit.” He described the initiative as a pathway to establishing California as “the ‘field of dreams’ for immunology and immunotherapy research. The state can attract the world’s best scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, and companies while accelerating the development of life-saving treatments for patients worldwide.”
Concept to Ballot
The California Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative was born out of both opportunity and urgency. The organizers of the initiative hope that that 10 to 15 years from now, Californians will be living longer, healthier lives thanks to new vaccines and cures made possible by investments in immunology research today. They want to see faster progress against some of the most devastating diseases affecting families across their state and around the world.
A coalition of researchers, physicians, patient advocates, philanthropists, and business leaders came together to develop a statewide solution. It took extensive legal and political research to design a ballot measure that is workable, politically viable, and fiscally responsible.
The initiative qualified for the ballot after gathering broad support from Californians who believe medical research is essential to saving lives and maintaining California’s leadership in innovation.
AAI Endorses the Initiative
AAI believes that this initiative is an important step toward safeguarding the future of immunological research, not just in California, but nationwide. The ballot initiative provides a model for other states to use to support research that leads to cures. AAI joins many other medical research organizations in supporting the intiative at the polls this November.
