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LifeCell (LIFC)
It's been a bit of a roller coaster for LifeCell. The biotech company has been riding high in recent years--with sales up an average 41% a year over the past three years and profits up 72% annually--thanks to its human tissue product AlloDerm. LifeCell takes donated human tissue and strips out the cells that would cause recipients to reject it as foreign. It is then used to perform surgical procedures including complex hernia repairs. But last fall, LifeCell got caught up in a gruesome scandal involving a tissue bank that allegedly harvested tissue from deceased individuals who had never consented to be donors. A resulting investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney resulted in the indictment of four individuals. While not implicated in the alleged conspiracy, LifeCell obtained cadaver material from the tissue bank in question and has now been named in a number of lawsuits. The company says it will defend itself against the lawsuits and also says it has not received reports of disease transmission.
Company Info |
|
| 2005 Rank | NR |
| Market Value* ($ Millions) | 888.0 |
| Sales* ($ Millions) | 105.2 |
| Sales Growth (3-yr. avg. annual) |
41.1 % |
| Profits* ($ Millions) | 14.0 |
| Profit Growth (3-yr. avg. annual) | 72.3 % |
| Return on Inv. Capital (3-yr.) | 20.0 % |
| Share Price 12-Mo. Hi/Lo | 28/12 |
| Share Price As of 4/28/06 | 27 |
| Return on Equity | 13.7 % |
| P/E Ratio | 66 |
| No. of Employees | 269 |
| Industry | Health Care Supplies |
| CURRENT MARKET INFO | LIFC > |
| COMPANY WEB SITE > | |
| Location | Branchburg, N.J. |
| Phone | 908 947-1100 |
*Trailing 12 months
Stock price data as of 4/28/06
DATA: Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
LifeCell Corporation engages in the development and marketing of human-derived tissue-based products for use in reconstructive, orthopedic, and urogynecologic surgical procedures to repair soft tissue defects. It produces a regenerative human tissue matrix, a three-dimensional structure that contains vascular channels, proteins, and growth factor binding sites, that provide a template for the regeneration of normal human tissue. The company's products include AlloDerm, which is used for plastic reconstructive, general surgical, burn, and periodontal procedures; Cymetra, a particulate form of AlloDerm suitable for injection; GraftJacket and GraftJacket Xpress for orthopedic applications and lower extremity wounds; AlloCraftDBM for bone grafting procedures; and Repliform for urogynecologic surgical procedures. The company sells its products primarily to plastic surgeons, general surgeons, burn surgeons, as well as ear, nose, and throat surgeons. It operates primarily in the U.S. The company sells its products through sales and marketing agents, and distributors. It has strategic sales and marketing partnerships with Boston Scientific for Repliform; Wright Medical Group for GraftJacket and GraftJacket Xpress; Stryker Corporation for AlloCraft; and BioHorizons for periodontal applications of AlloDerm. LifeCell was founded in 1986 and is based in Branchburg, N.J.
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