What is it?

Prop 38 is an $8.4B state bond for research in immunology and immunotherapy. Half of the funds will go to a single nonprofit research institute picked by the state Department of Public Health, and the other half will be distributed as grants for specific projects at California public and nonprofit universities and nonprofit research institutions.

At least $2.1B out of each half, or $4.2B of the $8.4B, must go to cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's.

Strings attached

Taking this money carries two obligations, no matter how small the grant:

1. A recipient owes the state 10% of all revenue from any patent that comes out of the funded research, until the state recovers the full bond cost plus interest
2. Any drug developed with the money must be sold in California at least 20% below the national average price.

Robert Kaplan, a UCLA health policy professor and former NIH associate director, argues these terms could push drug companies away from taking the money or selling the resulting products in California.

Past programs

Voters approved $3B in 2004 and $5.5B in 2020 for stem cell research through CIRM, the state's stem cell agency, for a total of $8.5B. The first therapy with CIRM funding to win FDA approval came in March 2026, about 21 years in: a gene therapy for an extremely rare, often fatal childhood immune disorder.

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