Stem cell biotech stays afloat

Embryonic stem cell biotech company linkurl:Advanced Cell Technology;http://www.advancedcell.com/ (ACT), announced today (Oct. 7) that it will be selling off $500,000 in convertible bonds in the next three months, following the company's linkurl:disclosure;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54884/ this summer that it was experiencing financial troubles. The Massachusetts-based company told linkurl:__Mass High Tech__;http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2008/10/06/daily29-Advanced-Cell-Tec

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Embryonic stem cell biotech company linkurl:Advanced Cell Technology;http://www.advancedcell.com/ (ACT), announced today (Oct. 7) that it will be selling off $500,000 in convertible bonds in the next three months, following the company's linkurl:disclosure;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54884/ this summer that it was experiencing financial troubles. The Massachusetts-based company told linkurl:__Mass High Tech__;http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2008/10/06/daily29-Advanced-Cell-Tech-sells-500K-in-bonds.html that it will devote money from the sale (to an Irish investment firm) towards advancing its clinical program and for general corporate use. Recently, linkurl:ACT;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54544/ has been seeking a partner to help with its preclinical programs to use embryonic stem cell therapy in treating retinal disease, blood disorders and cardiovascular disease. The company also needs funding for a program, called Myoblast, which uses adult stem cell therapy to treat heart disease. Myoblast successfully completed four Phase I clinical trials, and ACT has received clearance from the FDA to begin Phase II trials. Selling the one-year, seven percent bonds is the latest move to keep the struggling company alive in the face of waning investments in yet-to-be-developed embryonic stem cell therapies. This past July, after telling the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was essentially going out of business, an ACT spokesperson told __The Scientist__ that company officials were "killing ourselves to secure funding."
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  • Bob Grant

    From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.
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