NueCell Bio Joins CIRM's Industry Resource Partner Program to Support California's Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Innovators
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- NueCell Bio, a translational development partner that helps advance cell therapies from scientific discovery to GMP readiness, announced today it has joined the Industry Resource Partnership (IRP) Program of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a state agency. The designation, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations, makes NueCell Bio a resource for CIRM-funded researchers and companies advancing programs from discovery toward translational and clinical-stage development.
California voters created CIRM to accelerate stem cell and gene therapies for people with unmet medical need. Since 2004, Californians have entrusted CIRM with $8.5 billion to support promising discoveries through clinical trials, as well as train a regenerative medicine workforce, strengthen the state's biotechnology economy, and expand access to transformative treatment. According to the agency's own figures, CIRM has funded more than 1,400 projects, attracted more than $38 billion in follow-on industry investment into those programs, and counts more than 50 companies with roots in CIRM-funded work.
Through the IRP Program, NueCell Bio will bring biology-led bioprocessing expertise to CIRM-funded programs at the translational stage between the research lab and the GMP suite, where many of a program's critical design decisions are made, building in manufacturability, analytics and quality while those decisions are still open. The company's 26,300-square-foot Sorrento Valley location supports autologous and allogeneic programs using unmodified cells, or cells genetically modified by viral or non-viral methods, across immune cell (CAR-T, NK, myeloid), stem cell (HSC, MSC, NSC) and pluripotent stem cell (ESC, iPSC) derived therapies, as well as tissue engineering programs. NueCell Bio sits at the center of California's cell and gene therapy community and supports programs both inside and outside the state.
A substantial share of the work sits in complex cell therapy programs, from iPSC-derived products to other advanced modalities. NueCell Bio supports development from cell line selection and characterization through cell banking, process development and analytics, aligning methods with emerging regulatory guidance. That includes moving from 2D to 3D culture and scaling in bioreactors to expand cells while preserving their biology and differentiation, with each lineage's requirements captured accurately. Choices made at the source determine whether a program can be manufactured consistently at scale.
"The question that decides a program's future is no longer just who manufactures it. It's whether it can get to manufacturing at all," said Michael Wourms, Chief Executive Officer of NueCell Bio. "That depends on the quality of the science and on the judgment applied to it long before GMP. NueStack™ turns that judgment into a repeatable foundation, so every program, whether it is immune cell, stem cell, pluripotent or tissue engineering, builds on years of development experience rather than starting from scratch. We're glad to be doing this alongside CIRM and its awardees."
NueCell Bio's proprietary technology stack platform, NueStack™, combines integrated technology layers from iPSC development and gene editing to analytics, manufacturing readiness and technology transfer, tailored to each program needs rather than a fixed sequence.
About NueCell Bio
NueCell Bio is a San Diego-based translational development company that partners with academic institutions, biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies to advance cell therapies from early research into clinical development. Its team combines deep expertise in pluripotent stem cell and cell biology, cell engineering and bioprocessing with NueStack, its modular development framework. The company works on a fee-for-service model, from design and development through CMC and technology transfer to GMP manufacturing. It holds no downstream manufacturing capacity of its own, so its advice on manufacturing strategy carries no commercial interest in the answer. For more information, visit www.NueCellBio.com.
About the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is a state agency created by California voters to accelerate stem cell and gene therapies for people with unmet medical needs. Since 2004, Californians have entrusted CIRM with $8.5 billion to accelerate promising discoveries through clinical trials, train a regenerative medicine workforce, strengthen the state's biotechnology economy, and expand access to transformative treatments. Today, CIRM is pioneering new models of therapy development and accelerating medical breakthroughs that change lives — in California and around the world. For more information, visit www.cirm.ca.gov.
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