Advanced Cell charged out of the gates this AM for no reason I could figure out until now. The company put out what appeared to be a fairly benign press release, and the stock has become a good solid rebound phase on a big volume day.
As it turns out, the company was once again mentioned in a feature article in today’s Wall Street Journal. Full text below.
The market is currently obsessed with commodities- oil and gas, gold, etc. Biotechs have suffered during this rotation of capital.
As I covered in a recent edition, it might be time to start looking at companies in the biotech once again. The stocks are oversold and closing in on a bounce.
Today, ACTC bounced hard. The stock has admittedly done poorly since I started covering it. The timing was unfortunate in that I introduced the company just before the recent mega surge in oil and gold, which turned the market’s attention elsewhere and caused the stock to swoon.
Here’s a chart of our history with this stock:
As you can see, the stock has dropped from where it was after my first edition. The drop coincides directly with the surge in oil and gold.
However, if you want to own a piece of an underfollowed situation in the Stem Cell space, ACTC fits the bill. Details in the first edition I wrote on the company. Click Here to read it.
The article references human cloning. ACTC is not in the business of human cloning. ACTC has very unique technology which, through cell splitting, has the potential to produce custom made embryonic stem cells, targeted for individuals with no harm to any human reproductive process.
This little company’s achievements are important enough to garner attention from the Wall Street Journal. Here is the text of what was published today:
Cloning Efforts Resume in U.S.
By ANTONIO REGALADO and DAVID P. HAMILTON
May 8, 2006; Page B6
Marking the re-entry of U.S. researchers into a controversial medical endeavor, two American research teams say they will resume efforts to clone human embryos.
Officials at the University of California, San Francisco said Friday that they would immediately resume a cloning program, with the goal of creating new stem-cell lines that can be used to model genetic diseases.
The renewed efforts to use cloning as a source of stem cells come on the heels of a scientific fraud in which a South Korean team’s claims to have perfected so-called therapeutic cloning were found to have been faked.
Separately, executives with Advanced Cell Technology Inc., of Alameda, Calif., said they plan to announce their cloning plans soon. Advanced Cell’s vice president of research, Robert Lanza, said the company is recruiting female egg donors and is interested in creating tailored transplant treatments.
Other institutions, notably Harvard University, are seeking to conduct similar studies, although plans by researchers affiliated with the school’s stem-cell institute have been on hold for more than a year because of extensive ethics reviews and administrative delays.
The cloning of embryos is controversial because some view it as the creation of human life for the sole purpose of scientific research. Advocates say cloning may provide a pathway for making customized stem cells useful in medical research.
Cloning programs are moving forward thanks to state laws put in place to protect and regulate the research. In California, voters also approved a ballot measure designed to provide as much as $3 billion in stem-cell funding over 10 years.
UCSF began its cloning effort in 1999, but the program ran into trouble in 2001 after UCSF lost its top stem-cell researcher, Roger Pedersen, who took a job in the United Kingdom, citing a hostile atmosphere in the U.S. Advanced Cell’s cloning effort was last active in 2003, Dr. Lanza said, and stopped because of political pressures and because the company lost its source of human eggs.
Write to Antonio Regalado at antonio..regalado@wsj.com and David P.. Hamilton at david.hamilton@wsj.com
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I view ACTC as a little longer term idea, but it is an outstanding way to participate in the future of Stem Cells without committing a huge amount of capital.
Please read my original presentation on the company for more details.
At this point, if you want to take a position, you need to have a longer term outlook (over one year) for maximum potential return. Comments and questions are welcome.
I trust you’ve seen the followup to ACTC’s announcement….
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=083006E
What magic is there in embryonic stem cells to make some scientists so economical with the truth and some science journals so credulous? Only a few months after the disgraceful Korean stem cell scandal, another scientist has again announced a breakthrough, and has again been denounced as a liar.
Editor: Clearly, this is a supercharged issue, which brings out exaggeration of both sides as everyone seems to have a “moral” position on this issue. Thank you for bringing this article to my attention. It helps explain why the stock is tanking again. I thought it was interesting that the science was denounced by a Roman Catholic Bishop, who is no doubt an expert on the science in this arena. I would never suggest that I know what anyone’s moral position should be. However, regardless of moral positions, I believe this science is coming to the market, and it is important. Thank you for sharing this information. It is very helpful and the exact reason why I have the BLOG.