Novocell, Inc.'s Phase I/II Data Selected For Late-Breaking Poster Presentation At The American Diabetes Association's 66th Annual Scientific Session

IRVINE, Calif., June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Novocell, Inc., a stem cell engineering company, will present a late-breaking poster on preliminary phase I/II data of its encapsulated human islet allografts, and Chief Scientific Officer Emmanuel Baetge, Ph.D. will participate in a symposium to discuss engineering insulin-producing islet cells from stem cells at the American Diabetes Association's 66th Scientific Session, taking place June 9-13 in Washington D.C.

Dr. Baetge will speak in a symposium on "First Steps in Making Beta-Cells from Stem Cells" on Tuesday, June 13 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. His discussion will focus on engineering stem cells into definitive endoderm for the creation of insulin-producing islet cells. Novocell is the first company to efficiently engineer human stem cells into definitive endoderm, the gatekeeper cells that differentiate into many other cells, tissues and organs, including pancreas, liver, lung, thymus, intestine and bladder. The company published these data in Nature Biotechnology in December of 2005, and the work was reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 2006.

The late-breaking poster presentation entitled "Encapsulated Human Islet Allografts -- Phase I/II Clinical Trials" will be on display Saturday, June 10 from 7 a.m. through Monday, June 12 at 4 p.m. and presented by Dr. David Scharp, chief medical officer from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday. The poster reports on preliminary results from a phase I/II proof-of-principle clinical trial for the company's proprietary polyethylene glycol (PEG) technology believed to enable implanted cells to survive subcutaneously and control glucose levels in type 1 diabetic patients. The PEG encapsulation technology may eliminate the need for continuous immunosuppressant drugs in implant patients.

The company believes the combination of the PEG encapsulation technology, together with an unlimited source of stem cell-derived islet cells may represent one of the best alternatives to safely treat large numbers of insulin-dependent diabetics with islet cell replacement therapy.

About Novocell, Inc.

Novocell, Inc. is a stem cell engineering company with research operations in Irvine and San Diego, Calif. and Athens, Ga., dedicated to creating, delivering and commercializing cell and drug therapies for diabetes and other chronic diseases. Novocell is the first company to efficiently engineer human embryonic stem cells into definitive endoderm, the gatekeeper cells that differentiate into many other cells, tissues and organs. Novocell has three primary technologies: stem cell-directed lineage, encapsulation and drug discovery. The company was founded in 1999 and merged with CyThera and BresaGen in 2004. For more information, visit www.novocell.com.

Contacts: Alan Lewis Holli Dickson President and Chief Executive Officer Account Supervisor Novocell, Inc. Porter Novelli Life Sciences (949) 727-1942 858-527-3495 alewis@novocell.comhdickson@pnlifesciences.com

CONTACT: Alan Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novocell,Inc., +1-949-727-1942, alewis@novocell.com; or Holli Dickson, AccountSupervisor of Porter Novelli Life Sciences, +1-858-527-3495,hdickson@pnlifesciences.com, for Novocell, Inc.

Web site: http://www.novocell.com//