According to ViaCell Chief Executive Marc Beer , there are about 180 other stem cell firms, but Amgen had previously given the growth factors only to academic labs.

FORBES: Small Stem Cells Find Big Backers

Perhaps most importantly, ViaCell received the rights to growth factors that could be useful in making stem cell products.

FORBES: Small Stem Cells Find Big Backers

"There is evidence that certain hormones, or growth factors such as insulin, act to stimulate cancer cell growth, " he says.

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