By: Dylan Sikes - AllPennyStocks.com News

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

For long-term biotech investors, it’s hard to overlook the dynamic shift that has been gaining traction in recent years to not necessarily shift away from small molecule therapies, but certainly put more emphasis on other areas as well, such as immunology and stem cell therapies. Stem cells, whether derived from the patient, called autologous, or from a donor, called allogeneic, have been gaining a lot more attention as the industry seems to have past its tipping point with several companies now in mid and late-stage clinical trials to validate the therapeutic benefit and safety of their processes. Looking to build its footprint in the stem cell business is Cellular Biomedicine Group (OTCQB:CBMG), a Palo Alto, California-based developmental biotech taking its technology to the clinic now. The company, known as EastBridge Investment Group Corp until a merger with the now namesake in February followed by name and ticker change on March 5th, is focused on developing new therapies using progenitor cell and dendritic cell technologies.

In the first week of March, the company launched a clinical trial for hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, the most common type of liver cancer, the result of collaborative efforts with the company, California Stem Cell and Shanghai’s PLA 85 Hospital. The trial, which is testing CSC’s tumor stem cell specific dendritic cell therapy licensed by Cellular Biomedicine, makes history in China as the first immune cell trial of its type.

More than 300,000 patients in China annually are diagnosed with HCC with limited therapies and a grim prognosis of a median survival time of 13 months.

That news has been followed on Wednesday with Cellular Biomedicine reporting that it has kicked-off another clinical trial, this time researching their human adipose-derived mesenchymal progenitor cell (haMPC) therapy for knee osteoarthritis, of KOA. The therapy is comprised of intra-articular injections of autologous haMPCs with the goal of reducing inflammation and regenerating damaged joint tissues. haMPCs hold high promise in the stem cell business because they are can differentiate different types of tissue and develop in to many different types of cells to rebuild things such as cartilage and tendons. The phase I, open label trial is being hosted by Shanghai’s Renji Hospital, an affiliate of Shanghai Jiao Ton University School of Medicine.

As with other phase I clinical trials, the main goals will be to develop a safety profile and also be looking for efficacy of the therapies.

"We are pleased to have a highly respected university hospital such as Renji Hospital conduct these trials, and are very optimistic about the potential to soon be able to provide a safe and effective therapy that could bring relief to millions of KOA patients across China," commented Dr. Cheng Xiang (Chase) Dai, Vice President and GM of CBMG's Autologous Products Business Unit.

Shares, which were trading under $3 each in mid-February, spiked as high as $8.50 in March before pulling back under $5 again for the past 13 trading days. That is, until today, as the news helped this extremely-thinly traded stock push up to $5.30, albeit on volume of 2,000 shares changing hands.

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