HIGHLIGHTS:

• first service in Canada to offer families umbilical cord blood stem cell processing and storage
• first Accredited Cord Blood Bank in Canada
• completed Initial Public Offering on October 18, 2002
• increasing presence across Canada

Lifebank is an emerging company in the biomedical field.  From its facilities in Burnaby, British Columbia, Lifebank provides processing and cryogenic (ultra low temperature) storage of umbilical cord blood stem cells for private clients.  The company has successfully stored stem cell samples for clients in Canada and world-wide.

The umbilical cord blood of a newborn contains a high concentration of stem cells - the building block of both the blood and immune systems.  Unlike the controversial practices of using embryonic cells to grow human tissue, the collection of blood stem cells from the umbilical cord is an ethical, painless, and efficient means of preserving some of nature's strongest defenses against disease.  Umbilical cord stem cells are proving invaluable for the treatment of such diseases as leukemia, metabolic disorders, immune disorders, bone marrow failure, genetic disorders, and many others.  A full description of the advantages and benefits of storing the stem cells from an infant's umbilical cord can be found on the company's website at www.lifebank.com.

On January 21, 2004, Lifebank received official accreditation from the American Association of Blood Banks and was the first Accredited Cord Blood Bank in Canada.  Although an expensive service model to initiate, accreditation establishes Lifebank on an international scale as an audited quality cord blood stem cell banking service. 

Lifebank markets its services using a variety of avenues including distributing brochures to doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals, delivering lectures to groups of doctors and other health care providers, speaking at prenatal classes, and maintaining contact with the media to encourage informed articles about umbilical cord blood stem cells. 

Cord blood stem cell banking is gaining increased awareness and acceptance as an important service for treating potential health problems that may later arise in the life of the child or other family members.  Many physicians and obstetricians are now recommending this service to their patients and information about the service is becoming much more readily available.  Lifebank is poised to capitalize on this trend as the only publicly traded cord blood processing and storage company in Canada with an aggressive view for growth.

The company is now embarking on a program to expand its marketing activities, with a particular view to increasing its presence across Canada.