Results of Stem Cell Bonds Sale Exceed State Expectations
On Thursday, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer (D) announced that individual investors have purchased $102.8 million in bonds to fund the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, an amount that was triple the state's forecast, the Los Angeles Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 10/5).
Voters approved the creation of the stem cell agency under Proposition 71, a 2004 ballot measure that authorized the sale of $3 billion in state bonds over 10 years for stem cell research (California Healthline, 10/4).
Individual investors began purchasing the bonds on Wednesday, one day before the sale was open to mutual funds, banks and insurance companies. Eighteen institutional investors purchased the remaining bonds (Somers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10/5).
A total of $250 million in bonds was available. CIRM will receive about $200 million of the bonds, while $48 million will pay off bond anticipation notes that funded the agency while legal challenges were resolved (California Healthline, 10/4).
The bonds are only subject to federal income tax, but state officials are asking the Internal Revenue Service for an exemption.
The sale will provide the nation's largest-ever investment in human embryonic stem cell research, according to the Union-Tribune (San Diego Union-Tribune, 10/5).
