NeoStem Buys Cell Therapy Service Company

September 26, 2010

 

NeoStem (NBS) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Progenitor Cell Therapy, LLC, a US cell therapy service company. NeoStem said the transaction will be immediately accretive to earnings. NeoStem did not address the question of whether it would offer Progenitor's services in China.

Progenitor provides its clients with a variety of services, including contract manufacturing, product and process development, consulting, GTP services and national distribution. It played an instrumental role in manufacturing Provenge, Dendreon’s (NYSE: DNDN) autologous cellular immunotherapy, for its clinical trials. The company’s operations are in New Jersey and California.

Since its beginnings in 1999, Progenitor has served over 100 clients and has experience with more than 20 different cell based therapeutics. PCT has performed over 30,000 cell therapy procedures and stored over 18,000 cell therapy products (including some 7,000 umbilical cord blood units, 10,000 blood and marrow derived stem cells and 1,000 dendritic cells). It has also arranged transportation for cell therapy products for over 5,000 patients.

NeoStem will issue 11.2 million shares and warrants to purchase between 1 million to 3 million additional shares to the current owners of Progenitor. NeoStem’s stock is currently trading at $1.82, giving the deal a value of about $20 million. Major shareholders who hold more than 50% of each company’s stock have indicated that they will vote for the merger.

NeoStem, Inc. is developing stem cell-based therapies and anti-aging initiatives. It is building a network of adult stem cell collection centers in the US and China that allow people to donate and store their own stem cells for use in a future medical need.

SOURCE  NeoStem, Inc.