Investment Firm Selects an Adult Stem Cell Company for its Sound Business Model

CNNMoney, February 20, 2008

The New York based investor and public relations firm known as "Consulting for Strategic Growth 1" (CFSG1) has selected the adult stem cell company NeoStem, Inc., as a sound business model with positive growth and strong financial results.

According to CFSG1, NeoStem's performance was so successful in 2007 that the company was selected as one of only 3 "stock picks" by the firm for the entire year. NeoStem deals exclusively with adult stem cells, thereby avoiding entirely not only the ethical and political quagmires that are entangled in the topic of embryonic stem cells, but also the countless scientific problems that are caused by embryonic stem cells as well. To date, embryonic stem cells have never actually been used in the treatment of any disease or injury in human patients, and for good reason, since embryonic stem cells have proven to be highly problematic in the laboratory. Ethical and political controversies aside, embryonic stem cells have never advanced beyond the laboratory stage purely for scientific reasons. Consequently, financial experts are now discovering what scientists have known all along: namely, that adult stem cells not only make sound scientific sense, but they also make sound business sense as well.

NeoStem manages a nationwide network of adult stem cell collection centers throughout the U.S., and is one of a handful of companies that are pioneering the collection, processing and long-term storage of adult stem cells for future autologous (in which the donor and recipient are the same person) medical use. As such, not only do companies such as NeoStem eliminate all concerns regarding embryonic stem cells, but problems associated with matching a compatible donor to the recipient are also avoided. Additionally, NeoStem has developed proprietary technology in the collection and isolation of specific types of adult stem cells from the peripheral blood of adults through apheresis, a procedure which is safe, painless, minimally invasive and highly preferable to "bone marrow aspiration", the process by which stem cells have typically been collected from bone marrow in the past and which is usually performed under general anesthesia due to the amount of pain that is involved.

A number of recent breakthroughs have been reported with adult stem cells in the treatment of various diseases including systemic lupus, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, peripheral vascular disease, heart disease, and a variety of osteopathic conditions, all of which are included in NeoStem's research. By contrast, embryonic stem cells have never even been attempted for use in the treatment of any disease or injury in human patients, which is why there is currently no successful business model that exists for the actual treatment of human patients with embryonic stem cells. Also for this reason, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are currently conducting more than 750 clinical trials with adult stem cells in the treatment of human patients, and zero clinical trials in which human patients are treated with embryonic stem cells.

As reported by CFSG1, NeoStem's "business model is non-capital intensive, does not depend on risky biopharmaceutical R&D, and is a service model that is completely scalable and can be implemented immediately. All fees flow directly to NeoStem and do not require third-party payment." Additionally, NeoStem "grew substantially in 2007, meeting all of its milestones for the year." NeoStem (symbol NBS) is listed on Amex.

As the clinical wisdom and logic of adult stem cells begins to gain popularity over the clinical folly and futility of embryonic stem cells, more and more companies such as NeoStem, which deal exclusively with adult stem cells, are expected to become increasingly financially successful as they fill a widespread, international need for the safe and effective treatment of numerous diseases and injuries, including congenital and age-related conditions, many of which have already been found to be treatable with adult stem cells. One of the world's premier, most highly respected medical research firms, Frost & Sullivan, has estimated that within two years, by 2010, the global market for adult stem cell therapy will be $20 billion per year. Clearly, excellent investment opportunities are to be found today in those companies which are built upon the sound science of adult stem cell therapies.