Adult Stem Cell Company Selected for Prestigious Conference in Israel

BusinessWire.com, April 23, 2008

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., a biotech company specializing in the commercialization of allogeneic adult stem cell therapy for degenerative, ischemic and autoimmune diseases, has been selected to present at the First Annual Israeli Presidential Conference entitled, "Facing Tomorrow", to be held from May 13 -15 in Jerusalem. A total of 60 presenters were selected from among hundreds of candidates in the sciences, the arts, and business, all of whom represent inventions and innovative ideas that have been developed by Israeli individuals and which have the potential "to revolutionize the future", in the words of Conference representatives. According to Pluristem's President and CEO, Dr. Zami Aberman, "Pluristem is pleased to be invited to this high level international conference to present its business and products in development to world-renowned business leaders, technology thought leaders and entrepreneurs."

A number of world leaders in the arts, the sciences, business and politics will attend the Conference, including U.S. President George W. Bush, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, Former U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, Chairman and CEO of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch, and Harvard Law Professor Dr. Alan Dershowitz.

Pluristem Therapeutics is currently developing a variety of novel adult stem cell products in their pipeline which are derived from the human placenta. As such, the products are strictly non-embryonic and non-controversial. The products consist of expanded placental mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) which are immune-privileged and which exhibit immunomodulatory properties. For the expansion of these MSCs, Pluristem uses a proprietary 3-dimensional bioreactor which is modeled after the natural microstructure of bone marrow matrix. Their main product in development, PLX-PAD, is targeted toward those millions of people who suffer from peripheral artery disease (PAD). Other products include PLX-1, which improves the engraftment of hematopoietic stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, and PLX-Stroke which is for the treatment of ischemic stroke, and PLX-MS which is for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.