On the cusp of milestone TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) authorization in Australia to start clinical trials in its breakthrough Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatment using human parthenogenetic neural stem cells (hpNSCs), International Stem Cell Corp. (OTCQB: ISCO) was proud to show markets recently that the company has achieved a point of maturity where it is also driving home steadily increasing revenues. The release of the company’s Q2 2015 data also showed record net income for the quarter, with outlays decreasing due to having successfully wrapped on a number of important preclinical studies, even as revenues increased 14 percent year over year, and profit margins held steady at around 72 percent.
The company’s increasingly lucrative biomedical business and consistently profitable regenerative skin care offerings, administrated respectively via ISCO’s wholly-owned Lifeline Cell Technology and Lifeline Skin Care subsidiaries, continue to materially backstop the ongoing development of an exciting therapeutic pipeline based on proprietary human parthenogenetic stem cell (hpSC) technology which is efficient, perfect for commercial scale volumes, and also completely ethical. ISCO’s parthenogenesis technology employs a unique chemical stimulation technique for triggering unfertilized donor human eggs to create pluripotent cells that can then be differentiated through proprietary activation into numerous types of cells. From the aforementioned hpNSCs, which are increasingly seen via the company’s trial work as a paradigm shift approach when it comes to treating neurological system conditions like PD and even ischemic stroke. To liver and eye cells that can be used to effectively treat degenerative diseases affecting those tissue systems, such as metabolic liver disease and macular degeneration.
Just looking at the company’s application of hpNSCs in PD, we see a fundamentally new approach to therapy using transplanted stem cells, which could actually solve the underlying problems that give rise to such conditions, rather than just attempting to ameliorate the condition as with many other therapies, including the current standards of care. In PD, where injected hpNSCs actively differentiate into both dopaminergic neurons, as well as express brain-protecting neurotrophic factors, and thus directly address the two primary causes of debilitation, this approach shows its monumental superiority to other approaches by simultaneously replacing dead neurons and protecting any survivors. This kind of therapeutic solution constitutes an end-run on PD, and potentially many other diseases/disorders via a completely ethical, high-volume stem cell production technology, and it could make ISCO into one of the now $27 billion plus global stem cell market’s heaviest hitters.
Recent projections by Transparency Market Research indicate that the global stem cell market is just getting warmed up too. With around 24 percent CAGR seen occurring through 2018 and valuations the following year of as much as $119 billion or more, this highly fragmented market is primed for explosive growth. Something which is especially true for real innovators like ISCO, given that pluripotent stem cells are also seen as rapidly eclipsing the core adult stem cell type that currently has around 80 percent of the market share.
Perhaps even more importantly, the company’s UniStemCell bank, which is effectively the life science industry’s first commercial-scale aggregation of histocompatible, non-embryonic human stem cells, is ideally positioned to benefit from the continued upswing in the sector. Providing a growing logistical footprint of high-quality material for research purposes, as well as commercial applications. Moreover, ISCO has established a solid presence already here in the U.S., which is the epicenter of global activity for the stem cell industry due to federal government support for the sector. As the biobanking market expands further into Europe and other global markets, the company will benefit from first-mover advantages.
To take a closer look, visit www.internationalstemcell.com
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