StemCyte Adds World Class Talent to its North America and Global Operations

COVINA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned experts in cord blood collection, processing and transplantation have joined StemCyte, Inc.  The added resources are evidence of its commitment as a worldwide industry leader in developing and providing the safest and most effective cord blood therapies for treating patients. 

Dr. Wise Young MD PhD has agreed to join StemCyte as its Global Medical Director.  He will serve in a voluntary (unpaid) and part-time capacity to help StemCyte organize its medical and research programs based on his firm belief in StemCyte as the best company today delivering cord blood stem cell units for life-saving therapies.  Professor Young is the founding Director of the W. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and helped found the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Center at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.  He has been voluntarily advising StemCyte since 2003 on its research and development programs.  He is currently conducting clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of human UCB cells and lithium treatment of chronic and acute spinal cord injury using StemCyte cord blood units. Prof. Young will help StemCyte develop stem cell therapies for new conditions such as spinal cord injury, stroke, and genetic disorders.  He will work with the team at StemCyte to develop the highest quality standards at its facilities and to organize collaborations with scientists worldwide to develop cutting-edge therapies with UCB and other stem cells.

"Wise is a unique and incredibly talented individual that I have been privileged to know and work with for the past 16 years," said Chairman and CEO, Ken Giacin.  "StemCyte is fortunate to have the benefit of his scientific expertise, dedication to our mission and passion for developing new promising therapies using high quality cells from cord blood."

In addition, StemCyte Inc. has recruited the following individuals to join its team:

Dr David Senitzer, PhD, a leading laboratory and technology expert, will be StemCyte's new Laboratory Director responsible for all UCB and HLA laboratory operations.  Senitzer has been the Clinical Professor of Hematology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Director of the Histocompatibility Laboratory at The City of Hope National Cancer Center since 1994.  He will oversee StemCyte's unique dual processing capabilities ensuring that its laboratory operations comply with all current and anticipated regulatory protocols.

Dr. Jennifer Willert, MD will join StemCyte as a Medical Officer.  Dr. Willert is an Associate Clinical Professor, University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. She specializes in blood and marrow transplant with the Division of hematology/oncology/BMT. She has prescribed and used cord blood units for treatment of critically ill children and supports broader accessibility of these life-saving resources to patients in need. Dr. Willert has a strong interest in stem cell research and regenerative medicine, along with emerging clinical applications using UCB.

Dr. Karen Taylor, MD, a Board Certified Obstetrician has joined StemCyte to oversee its collection methods, as well as its education programming for expecting parents, doctors and other health professionals engaged in the collection, documentation and chain of custody of UCB units. 

"We are pleased to be adding Doctors Jen Willert, Karen Taylor and David Senitzer to oversee our transplant, collection and lab-processing activities," said Giacin.  "These outstanding people will enhance StemCyte's unique hybrid business model in the cord blood industry.  We could not be happier to have such passionate, committed and expert personnel added to our team. Their caliber demonstrates our deep and continued commitment to providing life-saving UCB products globally to patients in need."

To continue improving the accessibility of cord blood banking, StemCyte not only processes both privately banked and publicly donated units to the same high standard, but is focused on improved collection education and methods. StemCyte's labs in California and Taiwan have been approved under the National Marrow Donor Program's (NMDP) FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) Application. StemCyte is actively preparing for its US FDA Biologics License Application (BLA).

About StemCyte, Inc.

Located in the US, India and Taiwan, StemCyte has established one of the largest, most racially diverse, and highest quality cord blood stem cell banks in the world.  StemCyte has supplied over 1,500 cord blood products for over 70 life-threatening diseases to over 200 leading worldwide transplant centers.  StemCyte is actively involved in the development of new umbilical cord blood-based cell therapies.  The Company supports the largest clinical study for using unrelated cord blood transplantation for thalassemia, one of the most common genetic diseases in the world, and the developments of trials investigating regenerative spinal cord therapies.  StemCyte is one of the only for-profit companies contracted by the US Department of HHS to help contribute clinical grade cord blood units to the public National Cord Blood Inventory for unrelated transplants. Its operational headquarters are located in Covina, Ca. To learn more visit www.StemCyte.com.

SOURCE StemCyte, Inc.