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TWST: Can we start out with an update on ThermoGenesis Corp.; what's
gone on over the past year or so that investors should really be
focusing on?
Mr. Coelho: ThermoGenesis Corp. designs, manufactures and distributes
medical devices, and companion sterile single-use disposables that our
customers use to harvest and cryopreserve biomaterials from single units
of blood. These therapeutically valuable products include stem cells,
surgical sealants and growth factors. Our products can be broken down
into three general categories: stem cell, surgical sealants and plasma
freezers and thawers. The CryoSeal' fibrin sealant ('FS') System, which
produces and dispenses a surgical sealant or 'glue,' received CE Mark
approval in March 2001 and Canadian approval in May 2001, thus allowing
commercialization activities to begin in each of these important
markets. The company is currently undergoing its European and Canadian
market launches. In addition, on August 16, 2001 the company filed an
Investigational Device Exemption ('IDE') with the FDA requesting
permission to begin human clinical trials. The company also continues to
support Asahi Medical's efforts in Japan to gain approval from the
Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare to begin human clinical trials
during the current fiscal year. The company believes the global market
for fibrin sealant is approximately 400 million annually, with 200
million in Japan, 100 million in Europe and 100 million in the US The
global market is expected to grow to approximately 800 million by the
year 2006. Launched in fiscal 1998, our BioArchive' System has been
purchased by 28 umbilical cord blood stem cell banks in 16 countries
worldwide to archive, cryopreserve and store stem cell preparations
extracted from human placentas/umbilical cords, thus providing a source
of neonatal stem cells free of the ethical issues surrounding embryonic
stem cells. To date the company's sales of BioArchive Systems to
umbilical cord blood stem cell banks has established an available
inventory capacity of more than 130,000 specimens stored in 36
BioArchive Systems. The company estimates that storage for over 1
million specimens will be required by the year 2007 in order to build
the Human Leukocyte Antigen ('HLA') diversity required to meet the
world's need for this important new life giving therapy. More than three
years after the initial launch of the BioArchive System, it remains the
only totally integrated, robotic cryo-preservation system available to
umbilical cord blood banks. The company expects to service the major
share of future capacity needs for the world's umbilical cord blood
storage requirements, which translates into approximately 275 BioArchive
Systems.
Tickers included in this excerpt: KOOL
For more information call (212) 952 7400. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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