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ViaCell Announces Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for its Corporate Headquarters and R&D Facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 2 -- ViaCell, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIAC) was joined yesterday afternoon by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and other local officials for a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open its corporate headquarters and recently completed research and development and manufacturing facility.

"We are proud Massachusetts is home to ViaCell and other biotechnology companies that are on the forefront of developing innovative therapies for serious and life-threatening diseases," said Governor Romney. "ViaCell's technological advancements have the potential to bring the benefits of stem cells to patients from non-controversial sources, umbilical cord blood and adult-derived stem cells, thereby further establishing Cambridge as a center of scientific excellence."

"ViaCell aims to be the leader in the preservation, manufacturing and commercialization of cord blood and adult-derived stem cells," said Marc D. Beer, President and Chief Executive Officer of ViaCell. "We expect our new state-of-the art research and development and manufacturing facility will help us significantly in our development efforts in the area of cancer, cardiac disease and diabetes to enable widespread use of human cells as medicine."

The new laboratory space, located within the Cambridge Science Center at 245 First Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is fitted for development and clinical trial scale manufacturing of cord blood and adult-derived stem cells. ViaCell also leases office space at 245 First Street, which serves as its corporate headquarters. Approximately 155 employees occupy space within ViaCell's Cambridge facilities.

ViaCell is a biotechnology company focused on enabling the widespread use of human cells as medicine. The Company is developing a pipeline of proprietary stem cell product candidates intended to address cancer, cardiac disease, and diabetes. CB001, its lead cord blood derived stem cell therapy product candidate, is being developed for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients affected by a variety of cancers. In addition to its therapeutic development programs, ViaCell's reproductive health business unit commercializes ViaCord(R), a product that offers expecting families the option of preserving their baby's umbilical cord blood. The Company is working to leverage its commercial infrastructure and product development capabilities by developing ViaCyte(TM), its investigational product intended to broaden reproductive choices for women through the cryopreservation of human unfertilized eggs. ViaCell is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a processing and storage facility in Kentucky and additional research and development operations in Singapore.

ViaCell(R) and ViaCord(R) are registered trademarks and ViaCyte(TM) is a trademark of ViaCell, Inc. All other trademarks are those of the respective owners.

ViaCell to be Added to NASDAQ Biotech Index

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 14 -- ViaCell, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIAC) today announced that its common stock was selected to be added to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index(R) (NBI) effective at the beginning of trading on Monday, November 21, 2005.

All securities in the Index are classified according to the FTSE(TM) Global Classification System as either biotechnology or pharmaceutical, listed on the Nasdaq National Market and meet minimum requirements, including market value and average daily share volume, among other criteria. The Index is ranked on a semi-annual basis in May and November.

ViaCell(R) and ViaCord(R) are registered trademarks and ViaCyte(TM) is a trademark of ViaCell, Inc. All other trademarks are those of the respective owners.

Liquid Asset: Stored umbilical cord blood can furnish a priceless resource: disease-fighting stem cells
(This article is an excerpt from DallasNews.com) By Wendy Hundley, January 10, 2006

"Stem cells are already being used to treat leukemia, sickle-cell anemia and other blood-related disorders, and researchers believe they hold the promise of treatment for many other illnesses...

Experts say the use of umbilical cord blood avoids many of the social and ethical concerns surrounding the stem cell debate. Embryonic stem cells, which scientists say can grow into any type of human cell, hold the potential to treat many diseases and incurable conditions. Such research has drawn opposition because human embryos must be destroyed to obtain the stem cells.

But experts say no human embryos are destroyed to obtain stem cells from the placenta and umbilical cord.

"This is not a controversial source of stem cells," Ms. Fisk said. "They're already developed and will be blood cells. They can't grow into something else."

Moreover, the cells are derived from the umbilical cord, which is routinely discarded by hospitals after the birth of a child. "It's a waste product that can go on to save someone's life," Ms. Fisk said.

Unlike a public bank, using a private company to store a baby's cord blood ensures that it will be available for the family's exclusive use and may provide a better match for them.

"Cord blood from a related source has twice the chance of survival for patients," said Mary Thistle, senior vice president for ViaCell Inc., the Cambridge, Mass., parent company of ViaCord, which was chosen by Ms. Vogel and her family.

More than 40 diseases can be treated with cord blood, including genetic, immune system and blood disorders, according to the company...

And the likelihood that families will ever need the blood is small. Of ViaCord's 80,000 customers, only 18 families have needed the stored blood for transplantation, Ms. Thistle said...

For a small but growing number of parents, the cost is worth it.

While Ms. Vogel and her husband know of no serious medical conditions they could pass along to their children, she said her job makes her keenly aware that good health can never be taken for granted.

She's a psychologist who works with children with feeding disorders at Our Children's House, a pediatric specialty hospital operated by Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

She's surrounded each day by children who have been in accidents or are suffering from disease. "It's a constant reminder that bad things can happen," she said.

Her neighbor Amy Rademaekers, the mother of three children, is another ViaCord customer. She is storing the umbilical cord blood from her last baby, born July 6...

Ms. Rademaekers suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and fears that her children may develop the painful condition.

For her, the promise of medical advances in stem cell use makes the sacrifice worth it. "The opportunities are endless," she said."

Source Material: Dallas News

Cord Blood Transplants Continue to Appear Promising
(This article is an excerpt from CancerConsultants.com) December 10, 2005

"According to results recently presented at the 47th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), transplants utilizing umbilical cord stem cells provide similar outcomes to transplants utilizing bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells in patients with hematologic (blood) cancers who undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplant...

One type of stem cell transplant, an allogeneic stem cell transplant, involves the use of high-dose therapy to kill more cancer cells than standard doses. Unfortunately, the higher doses tend to destroy important hematopoietic stem cells (immature blood cells). These stem cells mature into red blood cells, which transport oxygen and nutrients to tissues in the body; white blood cells, which help the body fight infection; and platelets, which aid the blood in clotting.

Low levels of hematopoietic stem cells caused by high-dose treatment can result in life-threatening conditions. In an effort to prevent this condition, donor hematopoietic stem cells are infused into the patient following therapy. Hematopoietic stem cells may be obtained from umbilical cord blood immediately following the birth of a child (cells are then frozen and stored in a central facility), from peripheral (circulating) blood, or in the bone marrow (spongy material inside large bones).

In addition to restoring low levels of a patient's stem cells following therapy, donor stem cells also attack the patient's cancer cells. Unfortunately, they may also attack a patient's healthy tissues, a condition referred to as graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Research continues into ways to reduce GVHD without compromising the effectiveness of donor stem cells.

Researchers from Japan recently analyzed data on outcomes of allogeneic stem cell transplants in which stem cells from different sources were used. This trial included 163 adults with hematologic malignancies who received stem cells from either cord blood from an unrelated donor or peripheral blood or bone marrow from a related donor. All transplants occurred between 1997 and 2005. Outcomes are as follows:

Treatment-related mortality at 1 year was 9% in those who received a cord blood transplant and 13% for those who received either peripheral blood or bone marrow transplant.

The rate of cancer relapse at 3 years was 18% for those who received a cord blood transplant, compared with 26% for those who received either peripheral blood or bone marrow transplant.

The rate of disease-free survival at 3 years was 71% for those who received a cord blood transplant, compared with 60% for those who received either a peripheral or bone marrow stem cell transplant.

The researchers concluded that stem cells from umbilical cord sources, even in unrelated donors, provide similar, if not superior results to stem cells derived from peripheral blood or bone marrow for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Another advantage of stem cells from cord blood is that patients do not have to wait as long to undergo their transplant-this allows their cancer to be treated earlier. Further trials to continue evaluating the most appropriate use of cord blood in allogeneic stem cell transplants are ongoing.

Patients who are to undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplant may wish to speak with their physician regarding their individual risks or benefits of the use of umbilical cord stem cells versus peripheral or bone marrow sources."