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Stem Cell Industry Insider Mercedes Walton Discusses President Obama's Stem Cell Executive Order

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 12:13 CDT

- Mercedes Walton, Chairman and CEO of Cryo-Cell International and C'elle(SM), Welcomes President Obama's Stem Cell Decision -

OLDSMAR, Fla., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As the CEO of Cryo-Cell International, the nation's most established private family cord blood bank, Mercedes Walton has been an active participant in the stem cell and cord blood industry since 2000. She has seen first-hand the changes that have taken place over the past decade and is pleased by President Obama's Executive Order, signed March 9, 2009, which reverses a 2001 Executive Order banning federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.

"We are excited to hear the news that President Obama reversed existing legislation regarding the use of federal funds for stem cell research. Although there is much work to be done to formulate ethical practices and policies on how best to proceed with certain forms of stem cell research, the American public can certainly find common ground in our collective interest to develop advanced stem cell therapies that may provide new breakthrough cures and treatments for a multitude of life-threatening and devastating diseases in the future," said Walton.

The Executive Order is lauded as affirming the American government's belief in scientific progress and offers hope of better treatments and cures to millions of Americans suffering from debilitating diseases such as stroke, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The Executive Order reflects the opinions of a majority of Americans who support increased federal funding for stem cell research due to the expansive lifesaving potential it holds.

Walton went on to say, "As a global industry leader in stem cell innovation, the responsible and productive use of stem cell research is of the utmost importance to all of us at Cryo-Cell and C'elle."

A pioneer in the non-controversial stem cell arena, Walton co-invented Cryo-Cell's novel menstrual stem cell technology portfolio along with Dr. Julie Allickson, Cryo-Cell's V.P. of Research & Development and Laboratory Operations. C'elle(SM) was commercialized in 2007 and is the first and only service available that empowers women to collect and cryopreserve highly prolific stem cells harvested from their own menstrual fluid for potential stem cell therapies in the future. Cryo-Cell has served over 175,000 clients worldwide and led the cord blood banking industry with the successfully establishment of a state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practice/Good Tissue Practice (cGMP/cGTP) laboratory processing facility well ahead of emerging regulation and competition.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with Cryo-Cell International executives, please contact Monica Kozak at (203) 545-1055; monica@horizonmarketing.com.

About Cryo-Cell International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CCEL)

Based in Oldsmar, Florida, with over 175,000 clients worldwide, Cryo-Cell is one of the largest and most established family cord blood banks. ISO 9001:2000 certified and accredited by the AABB, Cryo-Cell operates in a state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Tissue Practice (cGMP/cGTP)-compliant facility. Cryo-Cell is a publicly traded company. OTC Bulletin Board Symbol: CCEL. For more information, please call 1-800-STOR-CELL (1-800-786-7235) or visit www.cryo-cell.com.

About C'elle

Based in Oldsmar, Florida, C'elle is the first available service that enables women to collect and cryopreserve stem cells collected from their menstrual flow. C'elle is a proprietary service of Cryo-Cell International, Inc., one of the largest and most established family cord blood banks in the nation. C'elle was developed by researchers at Cryo-Cell following the company's discovery of unique and highly prolific stem cells in menstrual fluid. C'elle has the potential to benefit millions of women worldwide, since stem cells found in menstrual blood may potentially be utilized in a broad range of future regenerative therapies to possibly treat a number of debilitating conditions such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. C'elle stem cells may also have potential to be used in cosmeceutical applications such as anti-aging and sports medicine. For more information on C'elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.

SOURCE Cryo-Cell International, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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