Fate Therapeutics lands $15M CIRM grant for lupus cell therapy trial
What's the deal? Fate Therapeutics has received a $15 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to fund its Phase 2 RECLAIM-LN trial of FT819. The San Diego biotech, listed on Nasdaq as FATE, disclosed the award in a September 28, 2026 8-K filing signed by chief executive officer Bahram Valamehr.
Why now? CIRM awarded the grant on September 25, 2026, the same day Fate issued a press release announcing it. The company folded that release into its SEC filing as an exhibit.
What's the endgame? The money is earmarked to advance the Phase 2 RECLAIM-LN study of FT819, one of Fate's cell therapy candidates. The filing did not disclose trial timelines, enrollment progress, or specific grant terms.
The signal: The $15 million award sits above the 95th percentile for grant rounds to US health companies, an unusually large sum among more than 6,600 comparable deals. That places state-backed CIRM among the more substantial non-dilutive funders in the sector.
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Image credit: Fate Therapeutics
