Showing posts with label CSCR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CSCR. Show all posts

Friday, December 17, 2021

Pace of State Spending in California on Cell/Gene Therapy? $38K an Hour

Read the latest news about the California stem cell agency on our new platform. The link below will take you there. You can subscribe free today by clicking on the button at the end of the article below. Don't miss any of the latest doings at the $12 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).  The Los Angeles Times says the California Stem Cell Report is "indispensable" reading.  More than 3 million page views can't be wrong. 

$38,000 an Hour: The Current Pace at the California Stem Cell Agency

From broke to $5.5 billion in riches; the story of the last 12 months


Sunday, June 13, 2021

Subscribe Free Today to the California Stem Cell Report -- - The Most Comprehensive Source for the Ins and Outs of California's $12 Billion Stem Cell Program

Don't miss important fresh news and information about California's $12 billion stem cell research agency. It is charting a new course with new opportunities and significant changes in direction, including a greater emphasis on the fast-growing gene therapy field.  

The changes already mean a lot for patients, researchers and policymakers and will have an even greater impact in the next several years.  Tracking the agency's affairs is not easy, but you can find what you need on the The California Stem Cell Report

Dubbed "indispensable" and "authoritative" in the Los Angeles Times, the Report is the only regular, independent source of news and information dealing with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).  

It is news that can be found nowhere else. Plus it is comprehensive. More than 5,000 items have been published since CIRM was created in 2004. 

You can subscribe free to the California Stem Cell Report on its new platform by clicking on the "Subscribe Today!" box on the upper right of this page. Or just go to one of the following recent stories and click on the subscribe button.

California Stem Cell Agency Withholds $5.8 Million from Orchard in Bubble-Baby FlapMoney to Go to New Effort Involving Compassionate Use

Monday, May 24, 2021

Read All About It: Bubble Babies Hit by Suspension of Trial for Genetic Cure; California Taxpayers Paying for Trial

 "Indispensable" is what the Los Angeles Times this morning called this blog, the California Stem Cell Report. 

The comment came in a story that was triggered by our coverage of the Orchard-CIRM-UCLA bubble baby clinical trial, which was shoved aside by Orchard Therapeutics for financial reasons. That leaves a bunch of children out in the cold as far as the genetic treatment is concerned. 

UCLA says the treatment has saved the lives of more than 50 persons. 

Below is a list of the Orchard stories that we have carried on our new platform since we unearthed the issue on May 11. You can subscribe free to articles on our new home by clicking on the subscribe button in stories on the new platform. Subscribe today.

Here is the list.

Wicked' Problems, Orchard Therapeutics and Bubble Babies: A California Stem Cell Story

CaliforniaStem Cell Agency Pledges to Do "Everything" to Salvage Cure for Bubble Baby Disease

Can a California 'March-In' Save Terminally Ill 'Bubble Babies?'

Orchard's Suspension of Bubble Baby Disease Trial Earns Sharp Rebuke

Bubble Baby Cancellation Story Draws Attention in California's Largest Newspaper



Sunday, April 04, 2021

Essential Reading on California's Ground-Breaking, $12 Billion, Stem Cell/Gene Therapy Research Program

 Don't miss out on news and information on the $12 billion California stem cell agency. 

Its activities affect the lives of thousands of people and have the potential to affect the lives of millions of more. Not to mention that it is venturing into new areas of health policy and research. 

Subscribe today to the California Stem Cell Report on its new platform. You can do so by clicking here and tapping the subscribe button.  Plus it's free. 

Cited as “indispensable” in the Los Angeles Times, the California Stem Cell Report is the only independent voice regularly reporting on the activities of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the stem cell agency is officially known. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine invited the publisher of this site to testify during its $700,000 evaluation of CIRM.

This report has covered CIRM since its inception in 2004 and has published more than 5,000 items and attracted more than 3 million page views. 

It is essential reading if you have something at stake in what CIRM does and how it spends its money.

Here are links to recent articles on the California Stem Cell Report's new platform. 

California's Sickle Cell Surge: Researchers Tackle Disease with First-Ever, Gene-Editing Clinical Trial







Friday, March 26, 2021

Photo: License Dashboard

The talk at the California stem cell agency this week was of ”boiling the ocean,” the meaning of “unlikely” and “DEI.” All of which involves how $5.5 billion in taxpayer dollars will be used over the next decade or so....

Read all about it on the new platform for the California Stem Cell Report. And please subscribe on the new site to keep seeing the most complete and independent source of information on the doings at the state's $12 billion therapy development enterprise. 


Thursday, March 18, 2021

The Latest: Deciding who Decides Who Gets California's Stem Cell Billions

CIRM directors tomorrow take up the matter of how the agency chooses the judges of applications for billions of California stem cell research dollars. You can read more about what's in store on the new platform of the California Stem Cell Report

You can also make sure you don't miss any of the news by subscribing free.  It's easy. Just click on the subscribe button when you go to the link below. 

Who Should be a Stem Cell Judge for California's $12 Billion Research Agency?

Looking at how scientists are chosen to score grant applications


The California stem cell agency has released its plans to revise the process of choosing the folks who make the de facto decisions on billions of dollars in research awards.

The revisions grew out of a meeting last month of the governing board of the $12 billion agency, officially called the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

Some directors sought more diversity among as many as 300 scientists who are tapped to review applications for awards. One director sought assurances that the process would lead to the selection of the most talented scientists, ones who also could be counted on work positively with others during the review process....


Saturday, March 13, 2021

Subscribe Today to the Leading Source of Information on a $12 Billion Source of Stem Cell Research Funding

 It's time to subscribe -- free! -- to the California Stem Cell Report, which has moved to a new platform. 

Don't miss news and information concerning critical developments at the $12 billion California stem cell agency. It is the leading, independent and reliable source for all that happens at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). 

With more than 3 million page views and more than 5,000 items during the last 16 years, the Report's readers range from researchers throughout California to across the nation. Not to mention policymakers and entrepreneurs in the burgeoning stem cell field. "Indispensable" is how the Los Angeles Times described the California Stem Cell Report.

You can subscribe on the blog's new platform while reading the latest CIRM news. Please do it today. Here are recent links and excerpts that will take you to the location where you can subscribe with just one click.  

Telling the California Stem Cell Story: A Matter of Billions of Dollars

Building a Base of Voter Support

Can the stork be relied on to bring stem cell cash?

The respected California news service Capitol Weekly this week brought the exploits of the state’s $12 billion stem cell agency to a much wider audience than normal -- one that includes policymakers, lobbyists, lawmakers and even some information-hungry folks in the general public. 

The case in point involves the $17 million provided by the stem cell agency to help finance the world’s first clinical trial to treat spina bifida in the womb. ....

Bulldogs and Babies: World's First Trial to Treat Spina Bifida in the Womb

UC Davis Research Began More than 10 Years Ago

Bulldog pups were tested earlier in the spina bifida research and came out lively. UCD video

Backed by $17 million in cash from California’s stem cell agency, researchers at UC Davis this month are launching “the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells to treat spina bifida before the child is born.”...

 

Monday, March 08, 2021

California Stem Cell Flashback: When CIRM Was Homeless and Without an HQ

CIRM is now based in Oakland. Here is what it looked like prior to a CIRM board
 meeting in 2019. The view from the 16th floor includes the San Francisco Bay. 
Photo: California Stem Cell Report

Editor’s note: Sixteen years ago California’s stem cell program was basically homeless. It had barely come into being. It had no way to pay its bills or even employees. This link will take you to an item from Jan. 25, 2005, on the California Stem Cell Report that captures a slice of what it was like back then.  It also comments on today's situation at the agency's headquarters in Oakland, where space needs appear to be changing. 

Speaking of changes, the California Stem Cell Report has moved to a new platform. Be sure to subscribe free on the new site so that you don't miss out on information that goes to researchers and policy makers throughout the state. 


Friday, February 26, 2021

$165 Million for Stem Cell Education and Training in California


California's ambitious stem cell agency is in the midst of determining how it is going to spend $5.5 billion over the next decade or so. Its decisions are likely to affect millions of patients desperate for therapies and cures for afflictions ranging from cancer to diabetes. That is not to mention the agency's impact on health care policy and the thousands of scientists, technicians and others in their California laboratories. 

The go-to source for independent information about the programs of the stem cell agency is this blog, which has readers in every major stem cell research organization in the Golden State, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration

Over the last 16 years, the California Stem Cell Report has brought its readers exclusive information and news that can be found nowhere else. It has chronicled CIRM's accomplishments and its missteps over the years. And it is essential reading as CIRM wades into gene therapy, affordability efforts, personalized medicine and much more.  

Here are links and excerpts from this week's California Stem Cell Report, which has moved to a new platform as it chronicles the latest chapters in the life of the agency known officially as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)Subscribe to the "new"  version of this blog through the "subscribe" buttons that can be found on its new platform at Substack. Three-million "views" of the site can't be wrong.

California Approves $165 Million for Stem Cell Training and Education

Relaunches Touted Programs at Academic Institutions


California’s stem cell agency today pumped an additional $165 million into its efforts to beef up the Golden State’s stem cell workforce, but not without a rumpus involving the actual cost of each additional worker, who range from technicians to physicians.  

The agency and many of its 35-board members have touted the programs, which have been underway for a number of years. But earlier versions of the program, as well as the latest proposal, have not included a price tag for each of what the agency calls “ready-to-start” professionals. 

That led to a contentious discussion among governing board members during which a variety of high-level figures surfaced. One calculation by a board member generated a cost of $1 million per person per year (video at end of this item).


Tuesday, February 23, 2021

"Hotel California" for Golden State Stem Cell Research? Plus the Bad Tidings on a $16 Million Clinical Trial Investment

Here are links and excerpts from items this morning on the California Stem Cell Report, which has moved to a new platform. Don't miss the exclusive and news about California's $12 billion stem cell/gene therapy program, including information that can be found nowhere else. Subscribe to the "semi-new"  version of this blog through the "subscribe" buttons that can be found on the new site. Three-million "views" of the site can't be wrong. 

Stem cell researchers yesterday discussed a possible facility in California to aid in stem cell research that was dubbed a stem-cell Hotel California after the famed Baja retreat.

California’s rejuvenated stem cell program yesterday received bad news about a $16 million clinical trial investment but also heard glowing praise from stem cell researchers who suggested ways to spend $5.5 billion more. 

It all happened during a nearly five-hour session Monday morning devoted to crafting a new, five-year strategic plan for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known. The meeting came in the wake of voter passage last fall of Proposition 14, which saved the agency from death by a lack of dollars.....  

Text of Statement by Amander Clark of UCLA on Future Direction of California's Stem Cell Program

Clark's Talk was Aimed at Needs in Basic Research

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Looking for Work? California's Stem Cell Agency Needs 11 Good People

California’s ambitious stem cell research agency is now hiring as part of its renewed search for treatments and therapies, fueled by a fresh infusion of $5.5 billion courtesy of the people of the Golden State.

You can read all about the new jobs on the California Stem Cell Report's new platform. The article includes links to job descriptions, salaries and much more. Here is an excerpt:

“'Our team of highly trained and experienced professionals,' the agency says, 'actively partners with both academia and industry in a hands-on, entrepreneurial environment to fast-track the development of today’s most promising stem cell and regenerative medicine technologies.'

"The Oakland, Ca.-based agency is officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). It says it 'is the world’s largest institution dedicated to helping people by bringing the promise of regenerative medicine closer to reality.'

"At last report, the 16-year-old agency had 32 employees, down from a peak of more than 60 a few years back. But it has new and expanded responsibilities under Proposition 14....."

Thursday, February 04, 2021

Don't Miss Critical Information and News about California's $12 Billion Stem Cell Program

The California Stem Cell Report has moved to another platform, but you can still subscribe free to the latest news and information about the Golden State's $12 billion stem cell research program. 

For more than 16 years, the report has brought to its readers an independent perspective unfettered by government and industry ties. Read the California Stem Cell Report if you want to know what is going on at the state stem cell program, which operates with no legislative or gubernatorial oversight. 

The California Stem Cell Report is essential reading for policy makers, stem cell company executives, scientists and patient advocates. Subscribe now. 

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

CIRM Lays Out New Path: Funding More Buildings, More Research and Into New Territories (Personalized Medicine, Therapy Delivery)

California’s stem cell agency has for the first time laid out in some detail its view of the sweeping scope of its new charter -- approved by voters last fall and which directs the program into areas such as personalized medicine and therapy delivery over the next decade or so. 

The agency’s perspective will be discussed in public Thursday morning before its 35-member governing board. The new path is charted in the form of 17 pages of slides plus annotations on a 17,000-word ballot initiative, which is more than twice as long as the U.S. Constitution.

The documents were posted online by CIRM yesterday afternoon, two and a half days before this week’s meeting.... 

You can read the full item here on the new platform for the California Stem Cell Report, the only independent, news and information source devoted solely to the Golden State's stem cell research program, the first of its kind in state history. 

This blog's migration to a new platform is aimed at improving service to readers and helping to bring a new focus to our coverage, which began in January 2005 and which has carried in 5,000 items since then.

Monday, January 25, 2021

Plus and Minuses: The Proposition 14 "Christmas Tree" and its Implications


From the exploration of mental health to "aging as a pathology," Proposition 14 launched the California stem cell agency on a course that will take it far afield from its founding charter of 2004. 

Directors of the agency will receive a briefing Thursday on the details of the 17,000-word, "Christmas tree" ballot initiative. The California Stem Cell Report has prepared a deep look at many of the features of the measure, including how it could be altered if CIRM desires to take on that difficult task. Below is an excerpt from the full item, which can be found on the new platform for this blog.

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Proposition 14, last fall’s ballot measure to save California’s stem cell agency from financial extinction, contains much, much more than the $5.5 billion it sought from the state’s voters.

Added to the agency’s charter is research involving mental health, “therapy delivery,” personalized medicine and “aging as a pathology.“ That is not to mention a greater emphasis on supporting “vital research opportunities” that are not stem cell-related.

The measure enlarged the board from 29 to 35 members — seats not yet filled as of this writing. But even at 29, the board has been much criticized for its large size, which creates more possibilities for conflicts of interest, a long-standing issue for the agency.

Proposition 14 bans royalties that are generated by state-backed stem cell inventions from being used for such things as prisons and schools, isolating the funds from tinkering by lawmakers....

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The California Stem Cell Report is the only independent, news and information source devoted solely to the Golden State's stem cell research program, the first of its kind in state history. 

This blog's migration to a new platform is aimed at improving service to readers and helping to bring a new focus to our coverage, which began in January 2005 and which has carried in 5,000 items since then.

Sunday, January 24, 2021

New Home for California Stem Cell Report -- Don't Miss an Item

The California Stem Cell Report is in the process of migrating to a different platform. To be sure that you have the latest news and information concerning the California stem cell agency, please go to this location. 


Tuesday, January 19, 2021

California Stem Cell Board Faces its Future in Late January Meeting

Directors of the $12 billion California stem cell agency will meet on Jan. 28 to examine the new and sweeping scope of their changing enterprise, now remodeled in a major way by voters as a result of the last fall's election.

Affordability, mental health and "aging as a pathology" are all part of the new charter for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM). Its governing board has scheduled a four-hour online session on the 28th that is open to public comment, questions and criticism. 

Read about the meeting in an item posted this morning on a new platform for this blog, the California Stem Cell Report (CSCR), the only independent information source devoted solely to the  Golden State's 16-year-old research program, the first of its kind in state history. 

The blog's migration to a new platform is aimed at improving service to readers and helping to bring a new focus to our coverage, which began in January 2005 and which has resulted in 5,000 items since then.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Going Dark for the Holidays

 The California Stem Cell Report will be dark for the holidays until about Jan. 4. If you have last-minute gifts to give, don't forget "California's Great Stem Cell Experiment," a great gift for anybody above age 13 and some below that the age, even many of our dear readers. 😉

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

No. 1 Read: A 'Deep Dive' Into the Sweeping Changes Made in California's $12 Billion Stem Cell Program

Capitol Weekly's Twitter item on its most
read story of 2020

Capitol Weekly
, the respected online news service devoted to state government and politics, this week reported that its most-read story of the year is an article headlined "Proposition 14: There’s much, much more than meets the eye."

The piece was written by yours truly and dealt with the successful ballot initiative that saved the state stem cell agency from financial oblivion with a $5.5 billion infusion of borrowed money. 

The 17,000-word measure, however, also involved a sweeping expansion of the scope of the agency and made a host of consequential changes. The freelance piece began: 
"Proposition 14, the fall ballot measure to save California’s stem cell agency from financial extinction, contains much, much more than the $5.5 billion that it is seeking from the state’s voters.

"Added to the agency’s charter would be research involving mental health, 'therapy delivery,' personalized medicine and 'aging as a pathology.' That is not to mention a greater emphasis on supporting 'vital research opportunities' that are not stem cell-related.

"The measure would enlarge the board from 29 to 35 members. Even at 29, the board has been much criticized for its large size, which creates more possibilities for conflicts of interest, a long-standing issue for the agency.

"Proposition 14 would ban royalties generated by state-backed stem cell inventions from being used for such things as prisons and schools, isolating the funds from tinkering by lawmakers."
The Aug. 31 article was drawn from my new book, "California's Great Stem Cell Experiment: Inside a $3 Billion Search for Stem Cell Cures."  The book is a product of 15 years of coverage of the stem cell agency and posting of more than 5,000 items on its activities on the California Stem Cell Report.


Capitol Weekly has been around for decades, originally as a print publication. It is now part of Open California, a nonprofit that helps to fill a gap left by diminishing coverage of state issues by the mainstream media. 

On its website, Open California says, 
"Our mission is to inform, enlighten and educate Californians about public policy and state governance, and to provide a platform for engagement with public officials, advocates and political interests.  To meet this goal, Open California publishes continuing, in-depth, nonpartisan coverage of current policy and political issues, and hosts regular forums for public discussion of policy and California politics."

Monday, November 23, 2020

California's Stem Cell Research Program: How $3 Billion is Growing to $12 Billion

California's 16-year-old stem cell research program is a prodigious enterprise that is helping to finance 68 clinical trials and that has funded hundreds of California scientists for their work in an embryonic field, so to speak. 

The scope and importance of the program and its cost, however, are not necessarily apparent to most Californians. The program is not high on the radar of most people and certainly not the subject of breakfast table conversations in the overwhelming majority of the state's households. 

Over the past 16 years, the California Stem Cell Report has regularly described the stem cell agency, known officially as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as a $3 billion effort. But the use of that number did not make it clear that the cost ran significantly higher. 

When CIRM was created through a ballot initiative in 2004, the state Legislative Analyst estimated it could cost taxpayers $6 billion because of the interest on the money that the state borrowed to finance it. The figure has turned out to be closer to $4 billion because of unusually low-interest rates over the last decade or so. 

Under Proposition 14, the agency will receive an additional $5.5 billion from state bonds to spend on research and other new programs. The state legislative analyst has estimated the total cost will run about $7.8 billion because of -- once again -- interest costs. 

The Proposition 14 funding brings the total estimated cost of CIRM to nearly $12 billion.  And that is the figure that the California Stem Cell Report will use going forward to describe the program, unless someone can convince this writer otherwise. 

Referring to CIRM as a $12 billion enterprise immediately tells the reader that it is a significant effort. The number helps to draw readers into stories about CIRM. It is also more accurate than using a smaller figure, which would tend to minimize the cost and mislead taxpayers. Describing CIRM only as a $8.5 billion ($3 billion plus $5.5 billion) agency tends to conceal its true cost to the people of California. (In retrospect, this website should have used the 2004, $6 billion figure to describe CIRM over the last 16 years.)

CIRM is a rare bird among state agencies for a number of reasons. In this case, we know that its funding will cease at some point. Nearly all state departments do not live with that sort of financial guillotine.  

The 17,000-word ballot initiative, crafted by Robert Klein, a Palo Alto real estate developer, limits CIRM's annual CIRM bond sales to $540 million. Based on the experience under the previous initiative -- Proposition 71 of 2004, which created CIRM -- the agency is not likely to hit the $540 million cap each year. That could extend CIRM's possible life for another 15 years or so unless it becomes unusually tight-fisted.

As for the $12 billion figure, this writer is open to arguments for using another number, but I will have to be convinced. I am prepared to air those arguments (their full text) on this website. So if a reader thinks another figure is more appropriate, please let me know the reasons why either by filing a comment using the comment function at the end of this item or by sending me an email at djensen@californiastemcellreport.com.

Thursday, November 19, 2020

'Demeaning and Uncalled For:' A CIRM Complaint About the Use of the Word 'Obscure'

The California stem cell agency today sharply criticized an item on the California Stem Cell Report as "demeaning and uncalled for" because it described the four-person Citizens Financial Accountability and Oversight Committee (CFAOC) as "obscure."

The offending word was used in an article yesterday that previewed the first meeting of the committee in nearly 15 months. The CFAOC was created as part of the initiative that created the stem cell agency in 2004, which is known officially as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

The CFAOC reviews CIRM financial documents that have already been reviewed in public by CIRM's 29-member governing board, which is officially known as the Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee (ICOC). The CFAOC has no legal authority over CIRM beyond making possible recommendations.

The article in question began like this:

"One of the more obscure entities in state government is scheduled to meet this Friday to review the financial affairs of California's stem cell agency, a matter that now runs to nearly $12 billion.

"The panel is the Citizen's Financial Accountability Oversight Committee (CFAOC), which was created in 2004 along with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the stem cell agency is formally known. The CFAOC is charged with reviewing the financial practices of the stem cell agency. The CFAOC is the only state panel legally charged with that function. The governor and the legislature have no authority to do so."

Here is the text of the email expressing CIRM's displeasure with the use of the word "obscure." The email was written by Kevin McCormack, senior director of communication at CIRM.

"I think your characterization of the CFAOC in your latest column as 'One of the more obscure government entities' was demeaning and uncalled for. It may not have a high profile but it certainly has an important role. It was created by the voters in 2004 for a very specific purpose, to make sure we are held accountable, every year, for our financial performance. As one of the common, if erroneous, complaints about CIRM is that we are not accountable to the legislature or any other legislative body in Sacramento I would have thought the CFAOC should be praised not dismissed.

 

"This is a group of people who come together with the sole goal of making sure the state’s money is well spent. The members cover a broad range of professions but have one thing in common, they have vast experience in their area. They are appointed by the Controller, the Treasurer, the President pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the Assembly (and one by CIRM). These are nobody’s fools, they are diligent in the way they work, meticulous in their analysis of how we work, and forceful in making recommendations. Which we then follow.

 

"At CIRM we are used to people criticizing us, more often than not incorrectly. The CFAOC deserves better."

As the author of the article in question, I have high regard for the CIRM staff and McCormack as well as the persons on the CFAOC. Nonetheless, it is an obscure state entitity, as are many state departments. More than 200 exist and most of them are obscure. Consider the State Allocation Board, for example, or the First 5 California


The count of 200 does not include state advisory bodies such as the CFAOC. If it did, the number would likely run into the thousands. Such bodies can do important work, such as was done by the Little Hoover Commission, an obscure state entity whose analysis and recommendations concerning CIRM won significant praise by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which studied CIRM for months. 


What all these bodies have in common is that they are virtually unknown to the public, even to persons who consider themselves well-informed. 


The California Stem Cell Report writes about the CFAOC because of its connection to CIRM and the fact that both were created by the same 2004 initiative -- a measure criticized as ballot-box budgeting and that sometimes has also created impediments for CIRM. (See the IOM findings and recommendations.)


My bottom line? For a state body to be considered obscure is not a mark of shame. It is just a matter of fact.  


(Editor's note: A very early version of this item incorrectly said that Friday's meeting of the CFAOC will be the first in 19 months. The correct figure is 15 months.)

 

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