RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., Feb. 19, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cesca Therapeutics Inc. (f/n/a ThermoGenesis Corp.) ("Company") (Nasdaq: KOOL ) today announced that it consummated the merger with TotipotentRX Corporation ("TotipotentRX") for approximately 12,490,800 shares of the Company's common stock, as contemplated by the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the "Merger Agreement").
Further, to reflect the surviving company's combined strength, the Company changed its name to Cesca Therapeutics Inc. Cesca stands for Clinical Excellence in Stem Cell Applications. The Company is expected to begin trading on Nasdaq as Cesca Therapeutics Inc. on Thursday, February 20, 2014. The Company will continue to trade under the Nasdaq ticker symbol KOOL.
"By combining our technologies and solutions for the processing, preparation and preservation of cell-based products with TotipotentRX's extensive experience in developing clinically validated therapeutic protocols and cell therapy kits for major therapeutic areas, we believe Cesca Therapeutics will become the only fully integrated regenerative medicine company in the world," said Matthew T. Plavan, Chief Executive Officer of Company. "Our best-in-class products will give healthcare providers the ability to consistently execute every step of the cell therapy treatment process, at the patient's bedside, in less than ninety minutes and at a fraction of the cost of typical cell therapies. Important to our commercialization advantage, we have the ability to rapidly and cost-effectively develop these new cell therapies, by leveraging a proprietary contract research organization and exclusive, cell therapy partnership with the Fortis Healthcare hospitals. As the market continues to grow, we believe this combination offers tremendous potential for shareholder value creation."
As a leading regenerative medicine development company, TotipotentRX has developed eight autologous cell therapies in various stages of clinical development targeting areas of high unmet medical need, including critical limb ischemia, acute myocardial infarction, and other vascular and orthopedic diseases. TotipotentRX has the world's only clinical research organization (CRO) specializing in cellular therapeutic development services and utilizes the breadth and depth of its expertise and service offerings, along with an unmatched footprint in India, to navigate the complex and challenging cellular therapy regulatory environment, improve efficiency, and deliver better clinical trial outcomes. TotipotentRX also brings a high-value strategic partnership with Fortis Healthcare, an esteemed chain of specialty hospitals networked throughout India and Asia.
"Regenerative medicine is one of the fastest growing areas of modern medicine and is widely expected to become a major component of our future global healthcare system," said Kenneth L. Harris, formerly Chief Executive Officer of TotipotentRX. "Key to being a leader in this market is the ability to provide safe, effective, point-of-care therapy that works for the patient, physician and healthcare provider. The autologous cell therapy approach we employ requires strict standards and control of collection, handling, and redelivery to the body, but provides for significantly lower clinical and regulatory risk, reducing cost and enhancing our speed to market. This merger is the natural evolution for our existing strategic partnership with ThermoGenesis, and the superior performance of their equipment, which we currently use in both our clinical trial and blood cord businesses, has been an integral component of our successful clinical trial work."
Matthew T. Plavan will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the new organization, and Kenneth L. Harris will serve as President. Mitchel Sivilotti will join as Chief Biologist, Senior Vice President. Kenneth L. Harris will also join the Board of the Company.
About Cesca Therapeutics Inc.
Cesca Therapeutics Inc. ( www.cescatherapeutics.com ) is focused in the research, development, and commercialization of autologous cell-based therapeutics for use in regenerative medicine. We are also a leader in developing and manufacturing automated blood and bone marrow processing systems and companion disposable products that enable the separation, processing and preservation of cell and tissue therapy products. These include:
-- SURGWERKS, a proprietary stem cell therapy for treating vascular and orthopedic indications that integrate the following systems:
- Cell harvesting
- Cell processing and selection
- Cell diagnostics
- Cell delivery
-- AXP® AutoXpress® Platform (AXP), a proprietary family of automated devices that includes the AXP and the MXP® MarrowXpress® and companion sterile blood processing disposables for harvesting stem cells in closed systems. The AXP device is used for the processing of cord blood.
-- The MarrowXpress Platform (MXP), a derivative product of the AXP and its accompanying disposable bag set, isolates and concentrates stem cells from bone marrow. Self-powered and microprocessor-controlled, the MXP contains flow control optical sensors that volume-reduces blood from bone marrow to a user defined volume in 30 minutes, while retaining over 90% of the MNCs.
-- The Res-QTM 60 (Res-Q), a point-of-care system designed for the preparation of cell concentrates, including stem cells, from bone marrow aspirates and whole blood for platelet rich plasma (PRP).
-- The BioArchive® System, an automated cryogenic device, used by cord blood stem cell banks in more than 30 countries for cryopreserving and archiving cord blood stem cell units for transplant.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to that Cesca Therapeutics Inc. will provide unmatched world-class capability and service to its clients. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. A more complete description of risks that could cause actual events to differ from the outcomes predicted by our forward-looking statements is set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in ThermoGenesis annual report on Form 10-K and other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, and you should consider each of those factors when evaluating the forward-looking statements.
Cesca Therapeutics Inc. Web site: http://www.CescaTherapeutics.com Investor Relations +1-916-858-5107
