S.F. Leads in Stem Cell Agency Race

San Francisco solidified its lead Monday over Sacramento and San Diego in the contest to become home of the coveted headquarters of California’s $3-billion stem cell institute.

A site evaluation panel had originally intended to pick a top choice and one runner-up, based on a point system. But the rules were changed after San Diego trailed Sacramento by a mere 0.7%.

A 29-member selection committee will ultimately decide which city will host the agency that will allocate $3 billion, over 10 years, to medical centers and campuses that are conducting embryonic stem cell research.

An eight-member subcommittee winnowed down the contenders Monday, eliminating Emeryville from the competition. Los Angeles last month failed to make the short list of cities because its application was incomplete.

The three finalists will make final 10-minute presentations to the full committee in Fresno on Friday.

While the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine will house only 50 people who will administer the grants, the intense bidding process reflects contestants’ belief that the winning city will become a magnet for high-paying jobs, political prestige and biotech companies.

In Monday’s winnowing process, committee members said they were seeking a city that would, as one of them put it, present the best “personality for this organization” to the world.

That wasn’t easy. Each of the four finalists waged all-out campaigns in their bidding packages, offering tours of proposed sites designed to attract scientists from across the nation and around the world.

The proposals were judged on a variety of criteria, such as proximity to universities and hotel facilities, as well as community support.

San Francisco’s proposal included $11 million in private-sector contributions that included 43,000 square feet of available lab space for research, as well as pledges of discounted and free hotel rooms worth $900,000 a year.

“We’re very pleased to go into the final vote with the highest score,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in an interview. “But we have a lot of work to do between now and Friday.”

“The bottom line is this: In any objective analysis, San Francisco’s is by far and away the strongest,” he said. “And we’ll make that case without making cheap shots or bashing Sacramento or San Diego.”

In a statement to the committee Monday, Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo tried to ease concerns about her city’s relatively scant number of biomedical firms. “It’s a matter of looking to the future,” she said. “We have quite a healthy growth rate.”

Sacramento has offered 16,000 square feet of rent-free, premier downtown property about four miles from UC Davis Medical Center and 150 yards from the state Capitol and lawmakers. City officials also point out that home prices in Sacramento are half those in the Bay Area.

San Francisco’s final score was 222.75, followed by Sacramento with 200.5. San Diego had 199.8.

San Diego was happy just to still be in the race. Its proposal includes 17,000 square feet of rent-free office space along scenic Torrey Pines Road, and proximity to one of the nation’s highest concentrations of biomedical firms.

“We’re thrilled. Our best hope was to come in second,” said Joe Panetta, president and chief executive officer of Biocom, San Diego’s regional life science association. “Now, we have an opportunity to make our case on Friday.”