Melbourne's Australian Stem Cell Centre and a leading US university with $US3 billion ($A4.1 billion) to spend have sealed a unique deal that forms one of the most significant groups in regenerative medicine in the world. The deal between the ASCC at Monash University and the University of California San Diego, brings together 300 of the best scientists and researchers to share resources and expertise as they work on complex stem cell issues. Innovation Minister John Brumby said it heralded a new era and brought closer the possibility of breakthroughs for people with diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's.