ISCO Teams Up with Duke for Clinical Research in Parkinson's Disease

Posted by Colleen Koski

August 21, 2013 at 12:07 PM

Earlier today, International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO-OTC) announced that it has signed a master clinical research agreement with Duke University to conduct clinical trials research in Parkinson's disease using ISCO's innovative neural stem cell product. The research is expected to be coordinated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and led by Mark Stacy, M.D., vice dean for clinical research, neurology at Duke University School of Medicine and one of the preeminent experts on neurology, having published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers on Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. The collaboration with DCRI also provides ISCO with access to Duke's clinical expertise in cell therapy clinical trials as well as an extensive patient population, giving the Company an opportunity to evaluate its stem cell therapy in Parkinson's disease.

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Topics: ISCO

CardioComm Partner to Promote Case Study on SMART Monitoring Services

Posted by Colleen Koski

August 19, 2013 at 1:40 PM

Earlier today, CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (EKG-TSX.V) announced that its partner, SunGard Availability Services (Canada) Ltd, is expected to promote a case study evaluating CardioComm’s use of SunGard’s cloud-based systems infrastructure as the platform for the Company's HeartCheck™ SMART Monitoring services. The case study serves as an external confirmation of CardioComm’s technical capabilities and is part of the Company’s efforts to secure independent validation of its HeartCheck™ SMART Monitoring solution.  The companies signed a three-year partnership agreement in September 2012, which enabled CardioComm to use SunGard’s enterprise cloud services as the systems infrastructure to launch its HeartCheck™ SMART Monitoring services and the associated ECG Coordinating Centre (C4) in North America.

CardioComm’s HeartCheck™ SMART Monitoring services are designed to support consumers who seek to prevent or manage cardiac disease by enabling these patients to track their ECGs anytime and anywhere in the world. The HeartCheck™ PEN (shown below) is currently being sold for $259 for the device. Each customer who purchases a HeartCheck™ PEN is also offered one complimentary ECG report provided by call center (C4) physicians, which encourages the patient to establish a relationship with a C4 physician and also serves as a baseline ECG reading for future reference. Subsequent ECG readings are charged on a per-use basis.

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Topics: CardioComm Solutions

FULL VIDEO (Reuters TV): Biotech Stocks To Watch and More

Posted by Colleen Koski

August 15, 2013 at 1:25 PM

Last week, Jeff Kraws sat down with Rhonda Schaffler at Reuters to discuss opportunities and trends in the biotech space. Mr. Kraws is a veteran Wall Street sell-side analyst with more than 20 years of experience and is also cofounder and CEO of Crystal Research Associates. If you enjoyed the short clip of this interview released earlier this week, the full segment (available below) goes into more detail on individual biotech stocks and the events every investor should be watching out for.

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Topics: AtheroNova, Crystal Research Associates, Unilife Corp., biotech, MetaStat, Reuters

Jeff Kraws Talks Opportunities for Biotech Investors

Posted by Laura Swartz

August 13, 2013 at 11:47 AM

Biotechnology--the use of living organisms or other biological systems in the manufacture of drugs or other products--has emerged as a critical sector for healthcare investors over the past several years. In 2012 alone, the biotech sector grew over 40% according to S&P Capital IQ. Biotech is expected to remain a hot market going forward, with considerable room for more growth. Last week, biotech firm Intrexon Corp. (XON-NYSE) made its IPO debut at $16/share and immediately soared 38%. Nearly double its IPO price, Intrexon opened at $29.99 this morning, August 13th. 

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Topics: Crystal Research Associates, Newsworthy Events, biotech

Home is where the HeartCheck™ is: NEW RESEARCH on CardioComm Solutions

Posted by Laura Swartz

August 6, 2013 at 5:25 PM

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Topics: CardioComm Solutions

NEW RESEARCH: 72-page Report on International Stem Cell Corp. (ISCO)

Posted by Colleen Koski

August 6, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Yesterday, Crystal Research Associates initiated coverage on International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO-OTC) with the release of a 72-page Executive Informational Overview® (What is an EIO?). The full report is available for download here.

International Stem Cell Corporation (“ISCO” or “the Company”) is a biotechnology company focused on the therapeutic applications of human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs) to treat diseases of the brain, liver, and the eye, as well as on the development and commercialization of cell-based research and cosmetic products.

ISCO’s Novel Stem Cell Technology 

ISCO is pioneering the development of a new class of stem cells—known as human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs). The Company believes that these therapeutic stem cells avoid the safety, economic, and ethical concerns inherent with existing stem cell technologies. 

ISCO’s core proprietary technology, parthenogenesis, refers to a form of asexual reproduction in which an egg develops without being fertilized by a male gamete. The creation of hpSCs involves the stimulation of a human oocyte (egg) to start the cell division process without actual fertilization. Since the eggs are not fertilized, no viable human embryo is created nor destroyed for the generation of ISCO’s hpSC lines. In addition, according to the Company, the histocompatibility profile of hpSCs makes this the only stem cell platform capable of generating stem cell lines that can immune-match millions of people. The main medical, economic, and ethical benefits of hpSCs are summarized in the Figure below.

The Company’s therapeutic efforts for its hpSCs are concentrated in three markets where cell therapy has been clinically proven, but where there is a shortage of safe cells or tissue:

  1. Parkinson’s disease;

  2. inherited metabolic liver disease; and

  3. corneal blindness.

ISCO believes these markets could have a combined revenue potential of over $5 billion. ISCO is also employing its proprietary stem cell technology to develop an stem cell bank, UniStemCell™, which already contains enough histocompatible stem cell lines to immune-match over 75 million people.

Revenue-Generating Therapeutic Programs

The Company produces and markets specialized cells and growth media for therapeutic research through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology (www.lifelinecelltech.com) and SC-based skin care products through its subsidiary Lifeline Skin Care (www.lifelineskincare.com). During 2012, these companies generated approximately $4.6 million in sales. 

Lifeline Cell Technology  is a B2B research products company that specializes in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of purified primary human cells, media, and reagents for cell culture and therapeutic research. Lifeline Cell Technology's line of biomedical products includes over 130 products in four categories: (1) human cells; (2) human tissues; (3) cell culture media; and (4) additional products such as reagents and SC differentiation kits. The products are used primarily for application in the field of regenerative medicine, safety and toxicology testing, and basic cell biology.  In 2012, Lifeline Cell Technology  generated $2.4 million in sales—a 35% growth rate over 2010.

Moreover, the Lifeline Skin Care subsidiary  develops, manufactures, and markets advanced anti-aging skin care products based on growth factors and peptides extracted from hpSCs. During development of its technology for therapeutic programs, ISCO scientists discovered that extracts from some stem cells had a beneficial effect on the health of skin cells. After additional experiments and collaborations with skin care experts in order to optimize the SC extract and formulation, the Lifeline Skin Care products were introduced in November 2010. Lifeline Skin Care products generated sales of $2.2 million in 2012.

Business Model and Growth Strategy

ISCO uses its proprietary platform technology to operate under a novel business model for the biotechnology industry (see ISCO'S Business Model below). Specifically, the revenue-generating commercial operations of its subsidiary businesses (Lifeline Cell Technology and Lifeline Skin Care) support the development of the Company’s therapeutic programs and licensing opportunities. This model not only provides practical, short-term applications of the Company’s core technologies, but also generates financial resources to support further scientific research and development of ISCO’s therapeutic programs in Parkinson’s disease, metabolic liver disease, and corneal blindness. In addition, ISCO’s plans include the creation of an SC bank and, once it has proven the technology platform by developing the therapeutic treatments, the licensing of its technologies to third parties for the development of third-party treatments. 

 

Learn More About International Stem Cell Corporation

Crystal Research has published a 72-page Executive Information Overview® on International Stem Cell Corporation, which overviews the Company's products and technologies, as well as its growth strategy, intellectual property, management, competition, among other relevant information. A free copy of the report can be downloaded via ISCO's Corporate Profile

Follow Crystal Research on LinkedIn, Twitter (@CrystalResearch) or Facebook to be among the first to hear about new published research on ISCO as well as for updates on International Stem Cell Corporation's latest developments.  

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Topics: ISCO, New Research

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