Wall Street-Stem-cell research can be an incredible win for the pharma industry, even though the uncertainty associated with the field typically makes venture capitalists shy away from investing in it.

Ira Leiderman

That isn't wise. Those cell lines, cultivated in vitro, may ultimately turn out to be similar, but not equivalent, to stem cells isolated from embryos. And they'll have finite lifespans.

While checkbooks are open, the industry should consider a handful of quality companies, some private, others with modest market caps. Now is the time to invest in or acquire Nasdaq companies with critical technology for in vitro stem cell propagation or those with valuable intellectual property. For example, Geron Corporation (GERN) is a stock to watch because its embryonic stem cell intellectual property estate resembles the patent fortress built by Protein Design Labs (PDLI) for humanized monoclonal antibodies.

Also keep an eye on Select Therapeutics (XZL) for its unique, inexpensive, in vitro hematopoietic stem cell propagation technology; StemCells (STEM) for its capabilities in human neuronal stem cells; and Incara Pharmaceuticals (INCR) for its work with hepatic stem cells.