The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved a $100 million initiative—RAPID—to fund platform‑based in vivo genetic therapies for rare diseases, shifting from single‑asset awards toward scalable platforms. The program will support projects that have engaged with FDA pre‑IND processes and will fund IND‑enabling work through first‑in‑human trials across multiple indications. CIRM framed RAPID as a response to the inefficiencies of bespoke development for thousands of rare diseases and cited successes like the personalized CRISPR therapy for baby KJ Muldoon as motivation. The awards will back approaches in metabolic, immune, retinal, and hearing disorders and aim to accelerate regulatory interactions and cross‑disease platform validation. Platform strategies reuse delivery, manufacturing and regulatory pathways to reduce time and cost per indication; CIRM’s program could catalyze academic spinouts and industry partnerships seeking to de‑risk multi‑indication gene therapies. Watch for funded proposals and partnerships that convert the program into clinical candidates. Key actors: CIRM, therapeutic developers, FDA; reporting from GEN and CIRM announcements.