As senior decision-maker for Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., Calgary's newest publicly traded biotechnical company, Joe Tucker realizes he's riding a long shot.

For biotechs, the winding road from product development to paydirt is littered with landmines. These companies need buckets of working capital to stay afloat until their products start to generate revenue. That can take years. They pay through the nose for R&D, patent protection and clinical trials.

And once the product's ready to sell, they need partnerships and marketing smarts to get the job done right.

Tucker understands all that. Nevertheless, he believes his company (TSXV: SSS), which closed its initial public offering (IPO) last month, has a leg up on other upstart biotechs.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
Joe Tucker of Stem Cell Therapeutics decided early on against going to medical school in favour of making more of an impact in biotechnology.

"Relative to your standard biotech company, our venture entails a lower risk with a greater upside," says Tucker, a scientist-entrepreneur who earned his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Calgary.

Based on the evidence, he may be justified in saying so. But first, a clarification. Since many Canadians are opposed to stem cell research in principle, Tucker spends a lot of time explaining that Stem Cell Therapeutics has nothing to do with embryonic cells or with growing new tissue cultures.

As he puts it, most people don't realize their bodies are already loaded with stem cells. Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. hopes to market a medicinal therapy for rebuilding adult brain cells that have been damaged by strokes. Ultimately, the therapy may also work for victims of Parkinson's disease as well as Alzheimer's.

"As things stand now, there's no (medicinal) treatment for stroke damage," he says. "We're providing drugs which can actually repair and regenerate the tissue of your own cells."

Credit for the science goes to Dr. Sam Weiss, a truly distinguished genetic/stem cell researcher with international credentials who's based at U of C.

The product goes by the spacey nano-name of Ntx 265, a series of drug treatments to be administered in combination. If it works as advertised, it means renewed health and hope for North Americans who were blindsided by 700,000 strokes in 2004.

OK, fair enough. But as CEO, Tucker's task is to tiptoe past those landmines we mentioned. He's honest enough to admit it won't be easy.

"The whole definition of biotechnology is: We spend money, we don't make it," he flashes a wry smile.

"In biotech, cash is king. You're trying to raise money all down the line and trying not to screw up."

Certainly, Stem Cell Therapeutics got off to an encouraging start, raising $7.6 million via the IPO.

Now, here are Tucker's reasons for believing this company has found a shortcut to the end of that perilous road to market.

"For our stroke program, our two leading (medicinal) agents are already approved by North American regulators," he begins.

"We'll be coming in with two drugs that have been individually shown to have no side effects."

Nor is he worried about proving the drugs can be manufactured cheaply: "We can buy them both off the shelf."

In short, Dr. Weiss's Ntx 265 represents a new treatment process that relies on medicines that have been pre-approved.

"We should be able to move through the clinic much more quickly," Tucker says.

Ultimately, he intends to approach current manufacturers of the two drugs and propose partnerships.

"It would be all upside for them," he reasons. "We'll demonstrate that (the drugs) work in tandem on these disorders. We'll propose to sell them together."

Nor would failing to interest these parties be a deal-killer. Should they decline, Stem Cell Therapeutics would set up its own subsidiary for manufacturing purposes.

As with any fledgling biotech, it's all somewhat iffy at this early stage. But Tucker brings a useful mix of personal style and pertinent background to the boardroom table.

After he completed his U of C studies, Tucker discarded his original plan to go to med school when a mentor suggested he could make more of an impact by getting into biotechnology.

He learned the business fundamentals during a stint with Calgary Technologies Inc. and then hooked up with Jason Donville and other Calgary-based founders of Lightyear Capital Inc., where Tucker worked as a biotech analyst.

"That's how I increased my knowledge of how the financial world works, how you raise the money," Tucker says.

Potentially, the returns can be enormous. But even with shortcuts, the odds say he'll need all the skill, luck and knowledge in his kit to bring this baby home.

Web watch: www.stemcellthera.com

(Tom Keyser can be reached at tomk@businessedge.ca)