KCA-Supported Immunology Research Initiative Advances to California's November Ballot

An $8.4 billion “Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative” in California that would boost cutting-edge immunology research to prevent and cure cancer and other debilitating diseases has officially qualified for the state’s November 2026 ballot, giving voters the chance to advance life-saving research for patients and families.

The Kidney Cancer Association signed on in support of this initiative:

“Immunotherapies are an incredible medical innovation that has helped to extend the lives of kidney cancer patients. Our goal is to keep up the momentum through continued research in hopes of saving even more lives,” said Gretchen E. Vaughan, KCA’s President and CEO, in a press release by the coalition.

Immunotherapies are medicines that use the body’s immune system to find and stop diseases. In cancer, that means destroying cancer cells. In kidney cancer, the main types of immunotherapies are checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab (Keytruda) or nivolumab (Opdivo).

The initiative’s key measures:

• Provides $8.4 billion to California-based public and nonprofit universities and nonprofit medical research facilities specializing in immunology to research the prevention, treatment, and cure for the debilitating diseases facing millions of families.
• Dedicates half of funds specifically for cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s research and cures.
• Promotes scientific collaboration to develop treatments and cures for other serious diseases, including Parkinson’s, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), HIV/AIDS, muscular dystrophy and other serious medical conditions.
• Designed to repay the bonds and offset costs for the state and taxpayers. Ten percent (10%) of funds from the licensing of immunotherapies will be returned to the state to offset the total costs of the bonds including interest.
• Mandates strong accountability and transparency requirements, including limiting state administrative costs to no more than 2%, requiring that all grant funds be spent directly on medical research, rigorous conflict of interest rules, public disclosure of spending, and independent financial audits.
• Provides 20% discounts for Californians. Any treatments developed under this measure must be offered to Californians at a minimum 20% discount, relative to the national average.
• Positions California as the national leader in cutting-edge medical research, generating tens of billions of dollars in economic value and creating tens of thousands of high-paying life sciences jobs.

Commenting on this initiative, KCA’s Board member Dr. Brian Shuch, the Director of the Kidney Cancer Program and the Alvin & Carrie Meinhardt Endowed Chair in Kidney Cancer Research at the University of California, Los Angeles said:

“Federal funding cuts and uncertainty have already slowed promising cancer trials and put junior investigators’ careers at risk at a moment when momentum matters most. This bond measure would direct half of its $8.4 billion toward research on Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease , helping California fill that gap and keep discoveries moving from the lab to the clinic. As a kidney cancer surgeon-scientist, I’ve watched immunotherapy transform outcomes for patients who once had none -by training the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells it would otherwise ignore. Sustained investment in this science is how we turn today’s breakthroughs into tomorrow’s cures and the kidney cancer community should rally behind these investments.”

Federal funding for kidney cancer research has fluctuated since 2025. The most notable loss was major cuts to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs that slashed the defense-backed Kidney Cancer Research Program from $50 million to $0, only restoring funding to $15 million as of fiscal year 2026.

The KCA continues to follow developments that impact kidney cancer research funding.

Read the full press release from the California Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative.