OLDSMAR, Fla., Feb. 22, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cryo-Cell International, Inc. (OTCBB:CCEL) (the "Company"), one of the world's largest and most established family cord blood banks and an industry leader of innovative stem cell solutions, today announced that the Company has been selected as a finalist in the category of "Innovation of the Year" at the inaugural BizTech Innovation Summit hosted by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. Winners will be named at the BizTech Innovation Summit on March 17th at the Tampa Convention Center.
Cryo-Cell first launched its CelleSM service in 2007, and it is a potential game changer to the cord blood banking industry. The Company discovered that stem cells harvested from menstrual blood are proven to be a rich source of undifferentiated stem cells which proliferate rapidly and have the ability to become many different types of cells such as cardiac, neural, bone, fat and cartilage. These stem cells are a potential source for promising regenerative therapies that may possibly treat debilitating diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke in the future. CelleSM is the first and only service of its kind in the world empowering women to collect and cryopreserve stem cells from their own menstrual flow. CelleSM is available as a "Protect Baby, Protect Mom" SM bundle in combination with Cryo-Cell's signature U-CordSM umbilical cord blood service and as a standalone service.
"We believe that CelleSM technology has the potential to become the holy grail of regenerative medicine," stated Mercedes A. Walton, Cryo-Cell's chairman and chief executive officer. "Cryo-Cell has successfully executed an unprecedented research and development (R&D) collaborative business model based on the Company's proprietary CelleSM technology with eleven global research partners since 2007. During 2010, CelleSM technology development progressed significantly. We anticipate that the Company's expansive pipeline of R&D initiatives may include some very exciting prospects for future clinical therapies that may possibly catapult Cryo-Cell's global leadership in stem cell innovation. Cryo-Cell is truly honored to be recognized by the Tampa Bay BizTech Innovation Summit as an awards finalist for 'Innovation of the Year'."
During 2010, Cryo-Cell continued to make significant progress in advancing collaborative research partnerships to potentially develop a broad range of regenerative therapeutic applications utilizing Cryo-Cell's patent-pending menstrual stem cell technology for possible future treatment. In April 2010, Cryo-Cell announced results of a study published in the cover article of the peer-reviewed journal Stem Cells and Development that demonstrates the potential of stem cells harvested from menstrual blood to be utilized as a possible source for stem cell therapies to treat stroke and other central nervous system disorders. The study was conducted by researchers at Cryo-Cell, the University of South Florida, Saneron-CCEL Therapeutics and the Medical College of Georgia.
Under the terms of the CelleSM scientific collaboration agreements that are independently-funded by the Company's respective research partners, Cryo-Cell is expected to own 50% of the intellectual property associated with potential breakthrough therapies that may emerge from a diverse spectrum of R&D initiatives. In August 2010, the Company executed and announced an R&D collaboration agreement with Monash University in Australia, one of the largest and most established global leaders in stem cell innovation to conduct pre-clinical studies using Cryo-Cell's proprietary CelleSM technology to identify potential future therapies to treat autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. During the same month, Cryo-Cell announced that S-Evans Biosciences (SEB), the Company's exclusive Celle menstrual stem cell technology license partner in China opened a new state-of-the-art laboratory operation and R&D facility located in a Hi-Tech park designated to become an epicenter for stem cell and genomics R&D, cellular therapies and stem cell cryopreservation services. Currently, SEB is conducting three pre-clinical studies for heart disease, type I diabetes and liver disease utilizing menstrual stem cells prepared in SEB and recently reported that the preliminary data are encouraging.
About BizTech Innovation Summit
BizTech is hosted by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and the Tampa Bay Technology Forum and will bring together local area businesses and technology vendors for this first annual event. The summit will kick off with an expo featuring exhibitors providing products and/or services covering areas such as software, hardware, consulting, IT, telecommunications, web services, mobile applications, and much more. The expo will be followed by an awards luncheon honoring Tampa Bay area businesses for their true innovation in key tech sectors, in social media, in collaboration with non-tech clients and for chief executive leadership.
About Cryo-Cell International, Inc.
Based in Oldsmar, Florida, with over 230,000 clients worldwide, Cryo-Cell is one of the largest and most established family cord blood banks. ISO 9001:2008 certified and accredited by the AABB, Cryo-Cell operates in a state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Tissue Practice (cGMP/cGTP)-compliant facility. In November 2007, the Company launched CelleSM (pronounced "C-L"), the world's first-ever commercial service allowing women to cryopreserve their own menstrual stem cells. Cryo-Cell is a publicly traded company. OTC Bulletin Board Symbol: CCEL. Expectant parents or healthcare professionals may call 1-800-STOR-CELL (1-800-786-7235) or visit www.cryo-cell.com.
About Celle SM
The CelleSM service was introduced in November 2007 as the first and only service that empowers women to collect and cryopreserve menstrual flow containing undifferentiated adult stem cells for future utilization by the donor or possibly their first-degree relatives in a manner similar to umbilical cord blood stem cells. For more information, visit www.celle.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
Statements wherein the terms "believes", "intends", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", and similar expressions as used are intended to reflect "forward-looking statements" of the Company. The information contained herein is subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated in such forward-looking statements or paragraphs, many of which are outside the control of the Company. These uncertainties and other factors include the success of the Company's global expansion initiatives and product diversification, the Company's actual future ownership stake in future therapies emerging from its collaborative research partnerships, the success related to its IP portfolio, the Company's future competitive position in stem cell innovation, future success of its core business and the competitive impact of public cord blood banking on the Company's business, the Company's ability to minimize future costs to the Company related to R&D initiatives and collaborations and the success of such initiatives and collaborations, the success and enforceability of the Company's Celle technology license agreements and U-Cord license agreements and their ability to provide the Company with royalty fees, the ability of Cryology RTS to generate new revenues for the Company and those risks and uncertainties contained in risk factors described in documents the Company files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any Current Reports on Form 8-K filed by the Company. The Company disclaims any obligations to subsequently revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.
CONTACT: Julia Avery (Investors) Stern Investor Relations, Inc. 212-362-1200 julia@sternir.com Irene Smith (Media) Cryo-Cell International, Inc. 813-749-2100 ismith@cryo-cell.com