Lifeline Skin Care, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCBB:ISCO), www.internationalstemcell.com, announced today that it has retained the services of a highly experienced expert in the skin care industry, Raulee Marcus, to help design a marketing program for its newly created line of skin care products based on ISCO's proprietary Parthenogenic Stem Cells. Ms. Marcus has an extensive background in skin care products, having been a key corporate executive with responsibilities for marketing, R&D and sales at companies such as Neutrogena, Colgate-Palmolive and Gillette, increasing sales at those companies by many millions of dollars. She has also had a highly successful career in building revenues and profits for smaller companies such as Obagi Medical Products, a physician-mediated company, and has extensive experience in launching new brands and products through many different channels. "Ms. Marcus is uniquely qualified to help us develop a product strategy that will have maximum market impact for what is truly a unique technology," said Dr. Ruslan Semechkine, President of Lifeline Skin Care. "Ms. Marcus' experience in the skin care industry and as a consultant to companies in that industry will greatly enhance our ability to develop a successful marketing and business strategy without distracting from our core focus on developing therapeutic products from Parthenogenic Stem Cells," said Kenneth Aldrich, Chairman of ISCO. "Early indications are that the skin care product, developed through the efforts of the ISCO scientists who created Parthenogenic Stem Cells, has unique characteristics for skin rejuvenation. Our next step is to validate these findings through independent testing and execute our product launch," said Dr. Semechkine. ABOUT INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL CORPORATION (ISCO.OB): International Stem Cell Corporation is a California biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutic and research products. ISCO's technology, Parthenogenesis, results in the creation of pluripotent human stem cell lines from unfertilized human eggs. ISCO scientists have created the first Parthenogenetic homozygous stem cell line (phSC-Hhom-4) that can be a source of therapeutic cells that will minimize immune rejection after transplantation into hundreds of millions of individuals of differing sexes, ages and racial groups. These advancements offer the potential to create the first true "Stem Cell Bank" and address ethical issues by eliminating the need to use or destroy fertilized embryos. ISCO also produces and markets specialized cells and growth media worldwide for therapeutic research through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology. For more information, visit the ISCO website at: www.internationalstemcell.com. To subscribe to receive ongoing corporate communications please click on the following link: http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1468&to=ea&s=0. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements pertaining to anticipated future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development and potential joint venture and other opportunities for the company and its subsidiary, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates,") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, application of capital resources among competing uses, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the company's business, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Key Words: Stem Cells, Biotechnology, Parthenogenesis
International Stem Cell Corporation |
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
International Stem Cell Corporation Announces Launch Strategy for Skin Care Product Line
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
International Stem Cell Corporation Applauds President Obama's Decision to Allow Funding of Parthenogenetic Stem Cell Research
International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCBB:ISCO) (www.intlstemcell.com), the first company to perfect a method of creating human stem cells from unfertilized eggs, applauds President Obama's signing of an executive order to allow funding of stem cell research. ISCO's unique human stem cells, called "parthenogenetic" stem cells, have ethical advantages since they do not harm a viable human embryo and have medical advantages since they can be immune matched to hundreds of millions of people across the world.
Monday, in an East Room ceremony at the White House, President Obama signed an executive order to lift the Bush administration's restrictions on federally financed human embryonic stem cell research. This decision provides Congress with an opportunity to overturn a thirteen-year-old law, called the Dickey-Wicker amendment, which specifically bans the use of tax dollars for research in which human embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury.
"Tissue-specific differentiated cells from human stem cells open up the possibility of cell-based therapy for untreatable degenerative and heredity diseases. The greatest risk posed with these cells for transplantation is that of immune rejection. Matching donor and recipient for HLA antigens is necessary for transplant survival. ISCO already has a human parthenogenetic 'HLA homozygous' stem cell line that carries the HLA type found most commonly within the US population. Tissue-specific differentiated cells from this line can be used for cell-based therapies of hundreds of millions of patients of different ages, races and sexes," says Elena Revazova, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of ISCO.
"While President Obama's decision - and the opening it provides Congress regarding a reconsideration of the Dickey-Wicker amendment - is cause for celebration among medical researchers, scientists, and patients' groups alike; however the controversy surrounding stem cell use will not disappear overnight," says Kenneth C. Aldrich, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of International Stem Cell Corporation, a California-based biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutic and research products. "Fortunately, our stem cell lines do not require the use of fertilized embryos, and can thus avoid these ethical difficulties."
International Stem Cell Corporation is the only company to generate functional pluripotent stem cells—that is, stem cells that have the potential to turn into any type of cell or tissue—through parthenogenesis. Recently, the company reported that by using its proprietary technique, cells from a single donor could be immune matched to hundreds of millions of patients.
Since a single line of these cells may reduce immune rejection issues in large segments of the population, parthenogenetic stem cells could be enormously valuable as a treatment of choice for diseases including liver disease, heart disease, and macular degeneration, and of particular value in treating diseases with hereditary links such as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, hemophilia, retinitis pigmentosa and many others in which cells from the patient's own body cannot be used for therapy because the patient's cells carry a corresponding genetic defect. For these patients it will likely be necessary to use HLA matched human parthenogenetic stem cell lines derived from healthy donors. "In these situations, we believe that the Parthenogenetic cells of International Stem Cell may ultimately prove to be the only viable solution," said Dr. Elena Revazova, Chief Scientist of International Stem Cell.
Based on this technology, the company has initiated an ambitious program for developing the world's first human parthenogenetic stem cell bank to serve the need for stem cell-based treatments in the general population.
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL CORPORATION (ISCO.OB):
International Stem Cell Corporation is a California biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutic and research products. ISCO's technology, Parthenogenesis, results in the creation of pluripotent human stem cell lines from unfertilized human eggs. ISCO scientists have created the first Parthenogenetic homozygous stem cell line (phSC-Hhom-4) that can be a source of therapeutic cells that will minimize immune rejection after transplantation into hundreds of millions of individuals of differing sexes, ages and racial groups. These advancements offer the potential to create the first true "Stem Cell Bank" and address ethical issues by eliminating the need to use or destroy fertilized embryos. ISCO also produces and markets specialized cells and growth media worldwide for therapeutic research through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology. For more information, visit the ISCO website at: www.internationalstemcell.com.
For more news and information on International Stem Cell Corporation please visit www.IRGnews.com/coi/ISCO where you can find the CEO's video, a fact sheet on the company, investor presentations, and more.
To subscribe to receive ongoing corporate communications please click on the following link: http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1468&to=ea&s=0.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Statements pertaining to anticipated future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development and potential joint venture and other opportunities for the company and its subsidiary, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates,") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, application of capital resources among competing uses, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the company's business, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Key Words: Stem Cells, Biotechnology, Parthenogenesis
International Stem Cell CorporationKenneth C. Aldrich, Chairman, CEOkaldrich@intlstemcell.com760-940-6383orJeffrey Janus, Presidentjjanus@intlstemcell.com760-940-6383orThe Investor Relations Group212-825-3210Investor Relations:Adam S. Holdsworthaholdsworth@investorrelationsgroup.comorMedia Relations:Laura Colontrellelcolontrelle@investorrelationsgroup.com
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
International Stem Cell Corporation Announces a Manufacturing and Supply Agreement with Millipore Corporation
International Stem Cell (OTCBB:ISCO) announced today it has entered into a worldwide distribution agreement with Millipore Corporation (NYSE: MIL) to manufacture living cells and cell culture products to be sold through Millipore’s distribution network.
“To work with a company such as Millipore that has sales of over $1.5 billion and is known throughout the world is a wonderful opportunity for ISCO. This partnership will lead to a significant expansion in ISCO’s revenue generation through the manufacture of high quality cells and cell culture products. Millipore is a leader in the life science industry, with a strong sales force and distribution network serving biotechnology firms, pharmaceutical companies and laboratories around the world. The ISCO-Millipore team will provide valuable research tools for cell biologists across the world,” according to Jeffrey Janus, ISCO’s president.
International Stem Cell, an emerging stem-cell therapy company, is the first company to perfect a method of creating human stem cells from unfertilized eggs. These cells, called “parthenogenetic” stem cells promise to alleviate two critical problems inherent in cell transplantation today, immune rejection and the ethical issues associated with the use of fertilized human embryos. ISCO, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lifeline Cell Technology (Walkersville, MD) develops and manufactures cell culture products for research use. Such manufacturing generates revenue and therapeutic production capacity for ISCO.
“We are very excited about driving our partnership forward with ISCO,” said Don O’Neil, Millipore’s Director of Marketing for Stem Cells. “With this relationship, Millipore gains access to a world class team of scientists responsible for developing many of the 'first-in-class' specialty media products on the market. The ISCO offering perfectly compliments our strategy to become the industry leading specialty and stem cell culture complete solutions provider.”
ABOUT MILLIPORE
Millipore is a life science leader providing cutting-edge technologies, tools, and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. As a strategic partner, we collaborate with customers to confront the world's challenging human health issues. From research to development to production, our scientific expertise and innovative solutions help customers tackle their most complex problems and achieve their goals. Millipore Corporation is an S&P 500 company with more than 6,000 employees in 47 countries worldwide. Www.millipore.com
ABOUT INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL CORPORATION:
International Stem Cell is a biotechnology company currently focused on developing therapeutic and research products. In the area of therapeutic product development, ISCO's objective is to create an unlimited source of human cells for use in the treatment of several diseases, including diabetes, liver disease and retinal and corneal disease through cell transplant therapy. In furtherance of this objective, ISCO has developed pluripotent human stem cells from unfertilized human eggs, and techniques to cause those stem cells to be "differentiated" into the specific cell types required for transplant. It has developed manufacturing protocols to produce the cells minimizing contamination with animal by-products, a characteristic likely to be important in meeting U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements. ISCO also provides the specialized cells and growth media needed for therapeutic cell transplantation research to academic and commercial researchers in related fields. For more information, visit the ISCO website at: www.internationalstemcell.com.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
San Diego Business Journal - "Collaborations: Academia, For-Profits Team Up to Advance Stem Cell Research"
Jeffrey Janus, president of International Stem Cell Corp., and Nikolay Turovets, director of research and therapeutic development, are pursuing new approaches to stem cell research.
Click here to read the full article by Heather Chambers
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The First Stem Cell Corporation Podcast
Welcome to this podcast. I am Ken Aldrich, Chairman and co-founder of International Stem Cell Corporation.
International Stem Cell Corporation recently announced that our scientific team, led by our Chief Scientist, Dr. Elena Revazova, has created a new class of human stem cell lines that do not involve the use of fertilized eggs and may enable hundreds of millions of people of different sex, ages and racial groups to benefit from cell based therapy with cells that will not be rejected by the patients own immune system after transplanting. The article was published in the on line edition of the well known peer-review publication, Cloning and Stem Cells on December 19, 2007
Since that time, we at International Stem Cell Corporation have received many questions about this discovery, most of which revolve around two basic questions: how are these cells different from what already exists and why does it matter? Since we are a public company that trades on the Bulletin Board--our symbol for those who are curious is ISCO.OB--a great deal of information about these questions has already been filed with the SEC and also been posted to our website, but I think a summary will be helpful, particular for those unfamiliar with the science of therapeutic cell implantation.
The 20th Century saw the development of whole organ transplants as a means to treat injury or diseases affecting the heart, liver, kidneys and other organs. The 21st Century has already seen the beginnings of a newer and even more promising therapy: the transplantation of human cells to enable damaged organs to begin functioning again on their own. Some of the new cell based treatments are quite advanced; others are in development, but all transplant programs to date share three basic problems:
- First, the only source of organs or cells has been human donation, usually from cadavers, or cells derived from fertilized embryos. The need for cadavers has meant that only a tiny portion of the patients who needed cell or organ therapy could obtain a donation.
- Second, until now, the only source of cells that had the potential produce cells in unlimited quantity for any organ of the body have been cells derived from fertilized embryos. That has raised religious and ethical questions that have hampered research and continue to do so.
- Finally, all of treatments available so far require heavy use of immune suppressing drugs to prevent rejection of the new cells by the patient’s immune system.
That is why Dr. Revazova’s two recent discoveries are so important. They open the door to obtaining an unlimited supply of cells, without the use of cadavers or fertilized embryos, and that can be immune matched to hundreds of millions of patients so that that they will not be immune rejected after transplantation.
Our cell lines are known by the tongue twisting name of “Parthenogenetic HLA-homozygous” lines, and you can expect to be hearing a lot more in the months to come about Parthenogenesis, HLA matching and “homozygous” cell lines. However, the easiest way to think of what we are doing is to think of a blood bank in which a physician can find blood to match the need of any patient. HLA matching is more complex, but the concept is the same—provide cells that will not be rejected after transplanting.
To put that in perspective, if you are a 5 year old child whose immune system is still developing and you are diagnosed with a dreaded disease, there may cell transplant treatments already being tested or in use that might provide a cure, but they will be of no use to you because of the difficulty of finding a tissue match and the danger to a young child of taking large doses of immune suppressing drugs. The drugs could be far more dangerous to a child than the disease itself.
We have just taken the first giant step toward solving that problem.
Our cells also have great potential in the treatment of genetic disorders such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and many others because we can provide cells from cell lines that do not carry the same genetic defects, but that is a complex subject that is better left to a later discussion.
There is still much work to be done to make cell based therapy available to all who could use it and no one company can do it all. That is why, although our scientists are the only people in the world who have perfected a technique for creating parthenogenetic HLA-homozygous cells, we have filed patents that describe how such cells can be created so that we can share with others the secrets of how to do it. Our goal is to work with researchers throughout the world to assure that, in time, no person who could be helped by a cell transplant need ever go without that help because there were not enough cells available that were compatible with his or her immune system.
To listen to a Podcast of this posting, please press the green arrow below or visit the ISCO Podcast home page at http://internationalstemcell.podbean.com
Sunday, December 9, 2007
A Message from the CEO - Jeff Krstich
Recently it was widely reported by the media that two groups of scientists have succeeded in turning human skin cells into cells that are very similar, though not identical, to embryonic stem cells. The media reports highlight that the method used to create stem cells from skin cells, called de-differentiation, does not involve the destruction of any human embryos.
As expected, the media attention generated numerous inquiries to our company, primarily on how this new research differs from ours, and what effect it might have on the field of stem cell research and our activities in that field.
Although the new discovery is scientifically exciting, it will not alter International Stem Cell’s basic strategy for providing human cells for transplant therapy. The reason is that our scientists, through our proprietary process called “Parthenogenesis”, have already created human stem cell lines that have the same characteristics as embryonic stem cells, and also do not involve the use or destruction of any fertilized human embryos.
Parthenogenesis enables us to produce Parthenogenetic Stem Cells Lines that can deliver an unlimited supply of cells for research or therapy, as needed and on demand. Our “Parthenotes” are already being produced in our laboratories and are available for use today by qualified researchers in any country that honors US and International patent laws. We have also differentiated some of those Parthenotes into specific cell types such as nerve cells and heart cells; some of which are already in production and expected to be used in human trials in 2008.
Unlike the cells derived through the recently announced de-differentiation of skin cells, our Parthenogenetic process does not involve viruses that can transmit disease, nor the use of specific genes that the scientists who published the recent work acknowledge are known to potentially be cancer producing. In addition, ISCO Parthenotes are developed with either no use or minimal use of animal serums or animal by-products, a problem that affects all of the lines currently “approved” by the Federal Government.
For all these reasons, we have chosen not to pursue de-differentiation, but to focus on creation of Parthenogenic Stem Cell Lines and the cells that can be created from them. Although we actually hold license rights to a technology for producing de-differentiated cells, we prefer to focus on Parthenotes, which offer the same freedom from the use or destruction of human embryos, are already available for production in quantity for research (or therapy once appropriate approvals are received), and are not burdened by the risks of introducing viruses or potentially cancer causing genes.
To summarize:
1. De-differentiation is an interesting discovery that may best be utilized for drug testing in a lab setting. Unfortunately, because of its inherent cancer producing potential, coupled with its use of viruses that may transmit disease, it is not currently suitable for human therapeutics.
2. If, however, the inherent flaws in de-differentiation are somehow solved and the process evolves to show greater promise, our company already holds license for a similar process and we could quickly pursue that avenue as well.
3. Our Parthenogenetic Stem Cells already can provide all the things that de-differentiation derived cells promise, and more:
a) Our stem cells do not require fertilized embryos and thus no fertilized embryos are destroyed in the process.
b) Our stem cells do not employ the use of any cancer causing genes.
c) Our stem cells use no viruses that can cause disease.
d) Our stem cells use none or minimal animal serums or animal by-product.
e) Our stem cells hold the promise for human therapeutic use with the distinct advantage of requiring little or no immunosuppressant drugs.
f) We are already producing human stem cells suitable for clinical trials, doing so in quantity and under strict quality control, and expect to be using those cells in two Phase I trials shortly.
In conclusion, although we respect and indeed applaud the scientific achievement of this newly published research, we do not believe it will have significant impact on our scientific pursuits, and certainly not a negative one. On the contrary, we find that every advance in stem cell research buoys the entire field. It generates excitement and optimism. Most importantly, it shines more light on what we believe to be the most promising area of medicine, and brings us ever closer to cure disease and reduce human suffering.
As always, we stand ready to respond to your questions and comments.
Most sincerely,
Jeff Krstich,
Chief Executive Officer.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release and the "Message from the CEO" on the company's website to which it refers, contain statements pertaining to future research, clinical development and potential opportunities for the company and its subsidiary, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, plans, goals, or prospects expressed by management. Those and any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as “will,” “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates,”) should be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the company's business, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
