NeoStem To Acquire California Stem Cell Inc. - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - NeoStem Inc. (NBS) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire California Stem Cell Inc., an Irvine, California based stem cell biotechnology company. The merger agreement provides for the issuance of an aggregate of up to approximately 5.33 million shares of NeoStem common stock, restricted and subject to a holding period, in exchange for all of the CSC outstanding stock and options. CSC shareholders will be eligible for additional milestone and royalty payments of up to $90 million, which may be payable in cash or shares of NeoStem common stock at NeoStem's discretion.

NeoStem said the acquisition expands its development pipeline of cell therapy products to include therapies for cancer. Melapuldencel-T, which targets cancer initiating cells for melanoma, will become NeoStem's most advanced product candidate.In 2014, NeoStem plans to initiate a Phase 3 study for Melapuldencel-T with a primary endpoint of overall survival.