PharmaStem Therapeutics Announces Patent License Agreement with GeneAngel, Inc. a leading umbilical cord blood bank.

PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. and GeneAngel, Inc. today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which GeneAngel has obtained a license to PharmaStems patent portfolio.

Wayne, PA, (PRWEB) December 3, 2003 --This license represents the 4th license PharmaStem has granted to umbilical cord blood banks. PharmaStem is the successor to Biocyte Corporation, the pioneer in the development of umbilical cord and placental blood preservation and its therapeutic use. In recognition of its leadership, PharmaStem has received five U.S. patents to date: No. 5,004,681, 5,192,553, 6,461,645, 6,569,427 and 6,605,275.

Aniko Kaiser, Vice President of GeneAngel stated: Obtaining a PharmaStem license ensures that GeneAngel can continue to position itself as a leading cord blood banking company. GeneAngel now provides a level of comfort to a parent not offered by non-PharmaStem licensed companies. Consider that some of those cord blood companies were ordered just this month to pay millions of dollars in damages for willful infringements of PharmaStems patents, and one can appreciate how anxious parents have now become. One direct effect of this judgment has been a heightened concern amongst parents who already stored with the infringing banks, and what might happen to their child's stored stem cells in the future. This concern led GeneAngel to bring forward the launch of the GeneSentinel transfer program that allows those parents to transfer their childs stored stem cells to a GeneAngels secure facility. Given the recent turmoil, GeneAngel is offering to collect and transfer those stem cells at no cost to parents."

Nicholas Didier, President and CEO of PharmaStem stated: Ever since the Jury found that the defendants do indeed infringe on PharmaStems Technology, and that they did so willfully, cord blood banks have stepped forward to secure a license from PharmaStem. GeneAngel is the first of this 'new wave of licensees, with more to come in the near future."

On October 29, a Delaware jury had found unanimously that PharmaStem's pioneering patents were valid and enforceable and that the four defendants, ViaCell, Inc., Cryo-Cell International (NASDAQ-CCEL), CorCell, Inc. and CBR Systems, Inc., had willfully infringed patents covering the technology for collecting, cryopreserving and storing stem cells derived from umbilical cord and placental blood for future therapeutic use. The judge awarded $7 million plus unspecified damages to follow. These stem cells found in umbilical cord and placental blood are replacing bone marrow as a transplant source for treating cancer and other diseases.

For further information about PharmaStem, contact Nicholas Didier, CEO, at (914) 833-9227 (phone), (914) 833-3175 (FAX) or ndidier@pharmastem.com.

For further information about GeneAngel (www.geneangel.com) contact Aniko Kaiser, VP, at (310) 312-9522 ext 923 (phone), (310) 861-5606 (fax) or aniko.kaiser@geneangel.com
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