Stem Cell Research

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES :
Shares of stem-cell research companies surged Tuesday on reports that it's increasingly likely President Barak Obama will soon be lifting the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Among the gainers were StemCells Inc. (STEM, $2.49, $0.37, 17.45%), Cytori Therapeutics Inc. (CYTX, $4.23, $0.38, 9.87%) and Aastrom Biosciences Inc. (ASTM, $0.58, $0.07, 12.64%).
The president's senior adviser, David Axelrod, said on Fox News Sunday he thinks the administration will be issuing an executive order on stem-cell research soon. "The president is considering that right now," Axelrod said.
On the campaign trail Obama had pledged to reverse President George W. Bush's 2001 policy, which limited federal funding for stem-cell research to human embryonic stem-cell lines that were already in existence. Analysts said the Obama executive order could come in the next few days, particularly because the $787 billion economic stimulus plan has been approved by Congress, freeing the president to focus on his other priorities. "He's had more pressing things on his agenda," Rodman & Renshaw analyst Reni Benjamin noted.
However, shares of stem-cell therapeutic company Osiris Therapeutics Inc. (OSIR) fell 1.7% to $20.46. Dawson James Securities analyst Stephen Dunn said Osiris wasn't getting a boost because its share price already has risen substantially. The stock has gained 74% in the last 12 months. Rodman & Renshaw's Benjamin said the federal funding ban has impeded the field of stem-cell research from advancing as fast as scientists would like. The lifting of the ban would initially have the biggest impact on universities, which conduct basic research to define the function and potential of the cells, Benjamin said. The benefits won't be as immediate at stem cell research corporations, which take universities' research and use it for the development of therapeutic applications, Benjamin said, noting that corporations' research is primarily funded by investors. "Lifting the ban today is not going to bring a therapy tomorrow," Benjamin said. While the lifting of the ban won't affect most of the corporations immediately, it would be great for the industry in the long term, because it will bring about more therapeutic developments, Benjamin said.