On Wednesday, Septemer 23, one CEO’s presentation to the biotechnology community could change the future as we know it – and make you incredibly wealthy in the process…

Now, with one company’s failure all but assured, our path to stem cell fortunes is clearer than it’s ever been.

If you had been listening to mainstream financial media, you probably believed that Osiris (NASDAQ: OSIR) was going to be the first company to deliver real stem cell-based therapies. Now Osiris is all but out of the running…

I’ve written about Osiris several times in the past to my Breakthrough Technology Alert readers, always to explain why I wasn’t recommending its stock. Briefly, I’ll recap.

Osiris has led the effort to utilize adult or mesenchymal stem cells. These MSCs are found in bone marrow and are capable of becoming multiple types of tissues. They are, therefore, “multipotent” stem cells. Embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, however, can become any cell types. They are, therefore, “pluripotent.”

Osiris was working on ways to jump the hurdles associated with programming embryonic stem cells to do specific tasks. This was before it became known that one researcher had figured out how to convert any cell in your body to an induced pluripotent stem cell with all the same potentials of embryonic stem cells. Big Pharm invested considerable hope and money in OSIR’s technology as a result.

At the time, I speculated that MSCs might have some therapeutic value, but even so, they would inevitably be superseded by pluripotent stem cells. I’ve spoken on several occasions to Osiris people, including one of its top scientists. He told me the company believed its MSC therapies had a 15-year window of profitability. Then he admitted programmed pluripotent cells would take the market away from less-effective MSCs.

I didn’t believe the 15-year projection for several reasons. One, I knew about the progress being made by elsewhere by one very exciting company. They’d essentially developed a methodology for cracking the programming codes that turn pluripotent cells into specific cell types.

The company has already announced the discovery and successful creation of various cell types, including cartilage cells. Recently, as you know, the platform won the biggest grant in the history of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Cartilage, incidentally, was the focus of Osiris’ MSC efforts. It was also testing what it believed were immune-suppressive qualities of MSCs.

Last week, however, it was announced that Osiris’ MSC-derived Prochymal failed two late-stage studies. The company’s stock plunged and the CFO resigned, “to pursue new professional opportunities, effective immediately.”

So what does this mean for stem cell stocks? It means that Big Pharm’s attention is returning to the stem cells that we know turn into cartilage: pluripotent stem cells. All the cartilage in your body, for example, came from embryonic stem cells. Now induced pluripotent stem cells can do the same thing.

Osiris, however, was among those companies that hoped a shortcut to effective SC therapies existed in MSCs. That hope has apparently been dashed, or at least severely set back.

This leaves a single researcher, the creator of the regenerative medicine industry, in the veritable catbird seat. Once again, I’m awed by his vision and dedication.

And as I’ve mentioned, on September 23, his presentation could be the next catalyst for his company’s share price to rocket – why not, the company has already shot up 150% in 2009. And with the developments going on behind the scenes, the chances of seeing even more triple-digit growth are phenomenal. Stay tuned for details on this one…

For transformational profits,
Patrick Cox

September 18, 2009

Related Posts

• March 9, 2012 -- Tap Into The $64 Billion Stem Cell Market
• December 18, 2009 -- An Update on Stem Cell Stocks
• May 13, 2010 -- Making Sense of Stem Cell Investments: An Update
• March 19, 2009 -- How Transformational Biotech Will Make You Richer Than Early Computer Investors
• March 11, 2009 -- Breaking Stem Cell News on Immunosuppression

Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox has lived deep inside the world of transformative technologies for over 25 years. In the 1980s, he worked in computer software development and manufacturing. By the mid-1990s, he worked as a consultant for Netscape — the company that handled 90% of all Internet browsing traffic at the time. InfoWorld and USA Today have featured Patrick's research numerous times. He's also appeared on Crossfire and Nightline. Patrick has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal and Reason magazine. His expertise brought him to Agora Financial, where he now heads Breakthrough Technology Alert, the only place you'll find the truly transformational technologies that offer exponential gains.

View articles by Patrick Cox