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Investor Relations Group

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Company: The Investor Relations Group, New York, NY
Company Description: The Investor Relations Group, Inc. (IRG) offers a full-service corporate communications program designed to suit the many unique needs of smaller public companies. The IRG program utilizes a proprietary, targeted approach to reach institutional investors, analysts, and the media-at-large.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Investor Relations Program of the Year

Nomination Title: International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) Investor Relations Program

Tell the story about this nominated investor relations program since January 1 2008 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) is a stem cell therapy company that
is the first to perfect a method, called parthenogenesis, for creating human
stem cell lines from unfertilized eggs for their use in regenerative medicine
therapies. The Investor Relations Group began working with International Stem
Cell in October 2008. In certain respects, timing was on our side: we knew there
was a very strong possibility that President Obama would lift the ban on the use
of federal dollars for stem cell research and that this would give a much-needed
boost to the stem cell industry in general. Taking full advantage of this
dynamic, we concentrated on distinguishing International Stem Cell from the
others, since its line of stem cells come from unfertilized eggs alleviating
some of the moral issues this kind of research raises for various groups and
individuals.

IRG performed a competitive analysis study to determine those funds, banks,
analysts and retail investors investing in the stem cell sector. As a result of
our efforts, ISCO has been on three road shows with targeted open market
investors and buy/sell-side analysts, 
held biweekly conference calls with stem cell open market investors and
buy/sell-side analysts, been placed on Stemcellpatents.com (peer website);
issued multiple press releases that were aggressively marketed by our Account
Executives; issued monthly IRG Microcaptivations™ (e-newsletter to our
proprietary list of 100,000+ investors). In addition, in an effort to drive
educational awareness surrounding the concept of parthenogenesis, IRG compiled
reached out to the webmasters of various stem cell news websites. This effort
resulted in an ongoing relationship with Stemcellpatents.com, which issued a
press release applauding the company and now hosts ISCO video footage, and
Stemcellresearchnews.com, which issued an independent fifty-six-page research
report on ISCO that will be distributed to their subscribers. 

IRG prides itself on a fully integrated corporate communications approach, one
that combines both investor relations and public relations. On the media front,
our efforts resulted in extensive media coverage for the company in print,
radio, and broadcast outlets, including placements in such publications as The
New York Times, The Economist, Genetic Engineering News, PharmaWire, San Diego
Union Tribune, BioCentury, New Scientist, among many others. For the interested
journalists, editors, and broadcast producers, we arranged to have ISCO CEO
Kenneth C. Aldrich host a webinar entitled “Stem Cell 102: Beyond Embryonic Stem
Cell Research.” On the multimedia front, IRG created several broadcast quality
corporate videos and podcasts.

Among the challenges overcome in implementing this ambitious program and
successfully marketing the company were ISCO’s market cap (approximately $7M
with 40M shares outstanding when our relationship began); the fact that the
company is not yet generating revenue; and that ISCO exists in a space that is
at once crowded and controversial. In the months since our relationship with
ISCO began, IRG’s efforts have driven liquidity in the stock, from approximately
30,000 shares a day to an average trading volume of 130,000 shares a day,
resulting in price appreciation nearly tripling (from a stock price of $0.18 to
over $0.52 as of April 2009).

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://irgnews.com/coi/ISCO   
http://irgnews.com/node/1279
http://irgnews.com/node/1171
http://irgnews.com/node/865
http://irgnews.com/node/1004
http://irgnews.com/node/864
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=isco.ob
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/International-Stem-Cell-bw-14982194.html?.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/International-Stem-Cell-bw-14661258.html?.v=1  
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/International-Stem-Cell-bw-14614971.html?.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/International-Stem-Cell-bw-14591927.html?.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/International-Stem-Cell-bw-14563931.html?.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/DiscoveryBioMed-Inc-Engaged-bw-14410063.html?.v=1
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/International-Stem-Cell-bw-14261684.html?.v=1  
http://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/index.php?newsarticle=2851
http://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/frontEnd/1121-Stem_Cell_Therapy:_Business_Models_Begin_to_Take_Shape.html
http://friendfeed.com/internationalstemcell

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this nominated investor relations program:

Senior Account Executive Adam Holdsworth has been with IRG for over four years,
representing companies across all sectors, primarily focusing on biotechs. A
graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Holdsworth served as an Income Auditor
for Wyndham International prior to joining IRG.

As a Senior Account Executive at IRG, James Carbonara has successfully booked
pre-qualified roadshows, secured client coverage in peer analyst reports,
crafted corporate materials, and authored numerous press releases. A graduate of
Villanova University, Carbonara served as a Branch Officer for Capital One Bank
and worked in production for NBC sports prior to joining IRG.