Gamble of the week: Cutting edge cell storage

Medical advances have allowed this small-cap to store human cells in the fight against cancer and other diseases. A buy for the adventurous investor, says Paul Hill.

Stem cells are unlike other cells in that they are undifferentiated that is, they can, under the right conditions, turn into, say, heart cells or skin cells, or any other kind of cell in the body. They are found in embryos, but also in the body's repair systems. Recent medical advances mean that it is possible to harvest these cells to treat illnesses such as cancers, and even grow entirely new body parts, thereby reducing our reliance on donor transplants. Stem cells are already being used to treat more than 70 illnesses, including leukemia, Alzheimer's, cerebral palsy and many other serious ailments.

The trick is to extract the cells while the patient is still fit and healthy, and then cryogenically freeze them. The earlier the cells are harvested, the higher the acceptance rates, the lower the risk of disease transmission and the better the chances of success. Although samples can be taken from adult blood or bone marrow, it is much more effective to extract them from the umbilical cord of newborn babies.

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.