An Ontario research institute dedicated to translating stem cell discoveries into treatments for victims of incurable illnesses has itself become a victim of the Ford government’s spending cuts.

The Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine (OIRM) supported research into a wide range of debilitating and fatal diseases, including muscular dystrophy, osteoarthritis, heart attacks, septic shock and lung injuries in premature babies. Its mission is to translate stem cell advances achieved in the laboratory into functional clinical therapies that can improve the health of patients in Ontario and worldwide.

The institute was formed in 2014 with $25 million in funding; staff and scientists were recently informed that the Ontario government would not be renewing that funding when it runs out next March.

The institute was axed before an external review of the OIRM’s efficacy and return on investment, happening this week, could be completed.

“Without even hearing the results of that review, to say they will not even consider a renewal, seems very short sighted at a time when the opportunities for stem cell therapies are coming along very fast,” says Janet Rossant, OIRM’s founding director and president of the Gairdner Foundation.

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Rossant added that the province has long been a leader in stem cell research, a field that has been heralded — even hyped — for its promise in curing diseases, but is only just producing clinic-worthy results after decades of grinding basic research. Potential cures also mean potential commercialization — making money from bringing a therapy to market.

“This is the time. If we lose our advantage here, we’re going to step behind other countries,” Rossant says.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Development said, “Every move we make as a government is made for the people.”

“We made the decision to protect what matters most in our budget — that means making sure our province is protecting health care and education, while returning to a path to balance in a responsible timeframe,” said Sarah Letersky.

Letersky added that the life sciences sector employs more than 90,000 people in Ontario.

“We look forward to continuing our work with the life sciences sector to reduce red tape and address their procurement issues, to ensure the sector continues to thrive in Ontario.”

The institute has a staff of seven but supports a network of more than 250 scientists across the province. OIRM is currently funding nine large and medium projects on specific diseases, six smaller grants for investigators, and a handful of post-doctoral fellowships. (Those projects will be allowed to continue until current funding runs out, an OIRM spokesperson says.)

OIRM was created to help scientists through what they sometimes call the “valley of death”: the period between a breakthrough in the lab with enormous potential but before a therapy has proven it can work in actual patients.

“OIRM was there really to identify the most promising potential therapies and then navigate through that [period],” says Duncan Stewart, president and scientific director of OIRM.

Bernard Thébaud’s research into a treatment for premature babies with lung damage is one of those therapies teetering on the edge.

When babies are born extremely prematurely, their lungs are severely underdeveloped. The breathing machines and oxygen that keeps those infants alive, combined with other insults from their environment, can result in chronic lung damage, a disease with lifelong repercussions for those babies and enormous burdens for the health care system.

Thébaud is using mesenchymal stromal cells, a type of stem cell derived safely and easily from the umbilical cord after birth, to develop a therapy that would protect these infants’ lungs from injury. His lab received $100,000 from OIRM to undertake the careful work required to obtain Health Canada’s approval to begin a phase I clinical trial, the first stage in translating that research from the lab to actual infants in the neonatal ward.

Thébaud was hoping to apply to OIRM for another grant to carry out the clinical trial.

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“This is a new era in medicine. Of course, still a lot of work needs to be done, but that’s why we need that funding,” says Thébaud, a professor of pediatrics and senior scientist in the regenerative medicine program at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He added that investors have identified regenerative medicine as one of the key technology frontiers of our time, with an enormous potential market value.

A spokesperson for OIRM said it would use the remaining time before the doors close to try to find private sector or other sources of operational funding.

“With all this excitement, it’s obviously disappointing,” says Stewart. “We’re hoping we can find some other way to make sure the momentum isn’t lost.”

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