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The $3 billion California stem cell agency is predicting that “human healthcare will be greatly improved” by stem cell research by 2024 and this week is fleshing out some of the details of an ambitious plan to help make that happen.

The effort involves what the agency calls “Alpha” stem cell clinics. The agency said its proposed $70 million, Alpha network will support its own projects along with products developed worldwide and brought to California.

The plan will come before the stem cell agency's standards group tomorrow at a meeting in San Francisco. The agency's staff has recommended alteration of some of the agency's regulations to avoid duplication in connection with review and approval of clinical trials.

The staff document said a workshop earlier this year developed a “consensus that it would be beneficial if the CIRM (the stem cell agency) regulations reflected existing state and federal requirements with regard to delegation of responsibility and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, such as the IRB (institutional review board) responsibility for the risk and benefit assessment.”

The staff is recommending...