I called StemLife few days ago and queried about their StemLife Adult packages. Wow, I'm being feedback by a rough estimation of RM18,000.00 which I not really sure the package contents without a further discussion with them regarding the pricing. Gathering the cord blood stem cells from baby is easier and less hassle according to the personnel because for adult, the process is too painful and costly.
Market wise, in Malaysia we got StemLife, CryoCord and CellSafeInternational (These are the one I know :p) that provide similar services. I don't think this is neither an oligopoly market nor monopoly situation. Looking at StemLife's annual balance sheet 2007, the amount for Property, Plant and Equipment is a mere RM 5MIL, which I equate as low barrier of entry to this market segment.
One note on StemLife cash management is the holding of RM 10Mil in unit trust (share?) which I'm not sure whether or not the position amount marked to market. This is one big gray area since if the position is suffering from a significant loss, basically it can't be serve as effective short term capital to the company. And it is hard to qualify whether the investment involves any indirect related party transactions that benefited certain people. I guess Vincent Tan bought in the stakes of the company for a reason, :p.
What's the conclusion? StemLife, IMHO, is neither a growth nor a value small cap company which I don't think I will put my money on the table for it at this point of time.
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