Neuralstem Incorporated (CUR)

 

Company Website: http://www.neuralstem.com

 

I want to state right now that I believe CUR will be the #1 leading stem cell company in the industry.

 

In my opinion, I feel CUR is a huge opportunity for the investment community and one that will be very rewarding.

 

CUR is financially solid with $9 Million in cash and NO DEBT!

 

When compared to other “peer” stem cell companies CUR has a much undervalued valuation. For instance, STEM has a market cap of $154 Million, OSIR has a market cap of $360 Million, and GERN has a market cap of $541 Million.

 

I believe CUR has much bigger potential than all 3 of these companies and only has a market cap of $84.7 Million!

 

There has been a lot of controversial debate when the subject of “stem cells” is brought up but lets face it, stem cells are the future for the pharmaceutical industry. The fact of the matter is stem cell technology will save lives one day.

 

I think CUR is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on this revolutionary market.

 

CUR is a Biopharmaceutical Company whose mission is to apply stem cell research and its patented human neural stem cell technology to treat diseases of the central nervous system including Ischemic Paraplegia, Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury, ALS ( Lou Gehrig's disease) and Parkinson’s Disease.

  

Right now, no effective treatments exist for debilitating CNS (Central Nervous System) disorders.

 

An estimated 50 Million Americans of all ages suffer from nervous system disorders like neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injury, and the population grows each year. These conditions can dramatically reduce the patient's quality of life and cost society hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars annually for medical expenses and lost productivity! More than 600 disorders of the nervous system have been identified, including common diseases like stroke, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic spinal cord injury, and autism. 

 

Most degenerative disorders occur when nerve cells, or neurons lose function. Since neurons cannot regenerate spontaneously, this degeneration often leads to chronic, debilitating and potentially lethal outcomes for patients. Again let me reiterate there are NO effective treatments exist for most nervous system indications.

  

CUR is the first company to use stem cell technology to treat nervous system disorders.

  

I am not a doctor but I will do my best in explaining how CUR is doing this. If you do not understand something please feel free to contact me and if I can't give you the answer I will get you in touch with someone at the company who can.

  

The nervous system is a complex organ that includes the central nervous system (CNS) consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) comprised of the nerves throughout the rest of the body. The "PNS" consists of 33 nerve bundles branching through the body, with junctions at the spinal cord permitting them to convey motor and sensory impulses to the "CNS."

 

^ The Nervous System

 

 

The CNS is composed of cells called neurons, which carry impulses, and glial cells called astrocytes and oligodendrocytes that surround and provide support to the neurons. Neurons basically affect all aspects of behavior including thought and movement.

 

^ Neuron with Supporting Glial Cells

 

 

A loss of these neuronal cells, as a result, can cause significant impairment of nervous system function and lead to chronic, debilitating conditions with potentially lethal consequences for patients.

  

CUR is using their new patent protected process (protected by 4 patents) to grow neural stem cells for the treatment of diseases in the CNS (Central Nervous System). Their technology allows them to produce mature, commercial quantities of neural stem cells with the ability to control the differentiation of the cells into physiologically relevant human neurons and glia. These neural stem cells can replicate themselves up to as many as 60 generations creating up to a BILLION-BILLION cells!

 

 

I would like everyone to please watch this video on CUR's website to explain how they have used their patented stem cell technology to fix ischemic paraplegia!

 

Here's the link: http://www.neuralstem.com/index.asp?pgid=14 

 

  

CUR has amassed a considerable bank of neural stem cells derived from a single donor tissue, composed of cells from every important area of the CNS. According to management, approximately 1 MILLION individual neural stem cell "doses", consisting of all important cell types, have been accumulated and stored by the company!!!

  

What's amazing about that is they have enough neural stem cells  to support all anticipated pre-clinical investigations in various CNS indications, and forthcoming human clinical trials and potential commercialization!!!

  

No other stem cell company has what CUR has! On top of that CUR has already stated that they done tests with paralyzed rats and with their technology have proven to help the rats walk again and extend their life!

 

That’s unreal! Did you know rats and humans share about 90% of common genes!?

 

Also, these paralyzed rats demonstrated considerable functional gains without rehabilitation or therapy, which CAN be done in humans and will almost certainly have benefit responses!

 

> Neural Stem Cells

 

"These stem cells not only survived in an extremely adverse environment, but may have actually produced and delivered motor neuron growth factors, which promote growth and function, to the sick motor neurons" stated by Vassillis E. Koloatsos, whose lab conducted the study on the paralyzed rats!

  

While other studies have reported only limited success with spinal cord-injured rats, "we made them walk again," said CUR's scientific founder and Chairman, Karl Johe. " We do expect the same thing in humans but it is more complicated."

  

He even stated that he thinks it would have worked for actor Christopher Reeves!

  

The reason why I feel this is the perfect time to get in is because not only did they successfully make paralyzed rats walk again but they announced that they expect to file for their first IND ( Investigational New Drug) for Human trials to the FDA by the end of 2007! That's this month!

  

The IND will be for Ischemic Paraplegia that sometimes results from complications in the repair of aortic aneurysms. CUR also expects to follow this in 2008 with an IND for traumatic spinal cord injury, and a 3rd IND for ALS. Again there are NO effective treatments for any of these indications!

  

What is completely unique about CUR's trials compared to other stem cell companies is that other companies trials for embryonic stem cells have proven to be significantly challenging with many technical hurdles while CUR's neural stem cell trials have overcome these issues demonstrating excellent safety and tolerability combined with potent efficacy in pre-clinical studies.

  

Also, unlike other stem cell companies CUR will know immediately in phase 1 trial if their technology works or not. From my understanding, CUR is involving actual nerve-damaged patients in their Phase 1 trials, not healthy volunteers enrolled only to measure the treatment's safety. This way even though Phase 1 is just to determine if the process is safe, it will also prove right off the bat if a nerve damaged patient shows signs of improvement in movement. If one of these paralyzed patients show improvement in their motor skills, CUR will be the #1 talk in the news worldwide!

 

We could have these results as early as the second quarter of 2008! If everything goes well the stock could go up ten-fold!

 

Check out this article that came out about CUR one week ago in the Maryland Gazette:

http://www.gazette.net/stories/113007/polinew54413_32379.shtml

 

 Pay particular attention to the last line in the article…  “Garr also expects to sign an overseas partner before the first trial to develop markets in Asia.”

 

This is huge! Imagine if they announce a huge partner is Asia!

 

In fact, if CUR has positive results from their phase 1 trials they have the potential to even be bought out!

 

CUR has so much to look forward to in 2008! Not only will they start to see results from their first IND for ISP but they are also filing two more IND’s for TSCI (Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury) and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)!

 

Just TSCI alone is huge with about 250,000-400,000 people who suffer from the disease and a reported 11,000 new cases in the U.S. a year!

 

Upon FDA approval, it is estimated that reimbursement for the therapeutics provided by CUR would generate revenues of $100,000-$140,000 per patient. Therefore, we are talking $300 million-$420 million in potential annual revenues from TSCI treatments alone!

 

Furthermore, I feel investors underestimate the degree of operating leverage inherent in CUR’s lean business model.

 

CUR has a low fixed cost structure where stem cell refinement, production, and storage is outsourced to Charles River Labs, a WORLD-CLASS, FDA compliant research and manufacturing partner based in Boston, MA!

 

The safety and efficacy of CUR’s neural stem cell platform have been validated in joint research programs with leading academic research institutions such as John Hopkins University, the University of California, San Diego, University of South Florida, and the University of Central Florida!

 

CUR hardly has any overhead with $9 Million in cash and NO DEBT! This is a gem compared to other R&D companies!

 

What many investors don’t realize is that CUR is completely unique compared with other stem cell companies.

 

Most stem cell companies deal with embryonic stem cells. Like I stated earlier there are many hurdles and problems when dealing with these kinds of stem cells. Not only do you have to deal with all the negative controversy of them coming from a 4-6 day old fetus but these embryonic stem cells can not be controlled. These stem cells can grow into almost any organ, cell or tissue.

 

CUR’s cell platform derived from multipotent progenitor stem cells, when implanted into the tissue, they become exactly what they were supposed to be, creating new, physiologically relevant neuronal cells when grafted in the damaged region. These neurons integrate into the surrounding tissue to restore and replace damaged cells, resulting in functional benefits. CUR has the potential to becoming the first company to help paralyzed people walk again! Remember, we’re not that far away from finding out!

 

CUR also has R&D programs underway for Parkinson's Disease, Sleep Disorders, Obesity, Stroke, Muscular Dystrophy and Focal Epilepsy!

 

Here are some near term milestones to look forward too:

 

• Complete protocol development with the FDA & partners.

• Finish groundwork and preparations for human trials in ISP.

• Commence human clinical trials in the ISP indication; 10-12 subjects.

• Prepare for IND application in TSCI indication by 2H 2008.

• Complete development work with U of M in preparation of ALS IND.

• Advance basic research and development work as a prelude to pre-clinical studies for Parkinson’s, Stroke, focal epilepsy, muscular dystrophy and small molecule biologics for depression.

• Continue investigation and characterization of various neural stem cell types and disease indications.

• Advance discussions with prospective clinical collaborators at academic centers for additional CNS indications.        

• Discuss and explore development partnerships and licensing opportunities with commercial partners.

 

I hope everyone now understands why I made CUR my next 5 Star Stock!

 

I never give price targets on my picks but just so you know Rubicon Global Research Holdings recently gave CUR a $6.70 price target based on a 12-18 month price objective. They initiated coverage on CUR in early October.  This price target was based primarily on their assessment of the probability adjusted revenue potential of its development pipeline, using sum-of-parts, and discounted net present value modeling technology:

 

This is a gain of 138% from the current price!

 Please do your research on CUR immediately.

(Remember, our Star rated stocks are long-term plays.)

 

If you have any questions feel free to email me or call us at

1-888-9-Club Grand -or- staff@wallstreetgrand.com

 

 

Wall Street Grand's stock profiles are intended to be stock ideas and are NOT recommendations. Please do your own research before investing. It is crucial that you at least look at current SEC filings and read the latest press releases. Information contained in this profile was extracted from current documents filed with the SEC, the company web site and other publicly available sources deemed reliable. The purpose of this advertisement, like any advertising, is to provide coverage and awareness for the company. WSG has NOT  been compensated for the profile of CUR! WSG owns about 8k shares of CUR WSG intends to possibly buy more shares in the open market and sell these shares without notice. The information provided in this advertisement is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. For our full disclosure please visit- http://www.wallstreetgrand.com/disclosure.html

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