HAIFA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2004-- Pluristem Life Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:PLRS - News), a biotechnology company dedicated to the expansion of stem cells to address a myriad of fatal illnesses, today announced that the Company achieved a monumental breakthrough in expanding cord blood hematopoietic stem cells (HSC's), that could profoundly effect the entire field of cord blood transplantation and also provide a new effective and immediately available source of these stem cells for bone marrow transplantations (BMT) in adults.

BMT (stem cell transplants) are the ultimate treatment for many pathological conditions and diseases. In this process, stem cells from a matched donor are transplanted to replace the blood system of the patient. Since BMT require donors with a very close match to the recipient, only 30% of patients in need of transplants can find a suitable donor.

A new and very effective source of transplantable and readily available stem cells comes from umbilical cord blood. Since the collection of cord blood from the donor is simple, non-invasive and the extracted stem cells are highly tolerant, cord blood transplantations have received tremendous attention. However, due to the small volume of blood collected from umbilical cords, transplantations have been limited to infants and children weighing less than 100 lbs. Therefore the need to develop expansion technology has become imperative in order to reach a viable option for bone marrow transplantations for all ages.

Utilizing the Company's PluriX(TM) bioreactor, Pluristem has expanded hematopoietic stem cells (HSC's) to quantities large enough for transplantation in more than one adult. These results, from the Company's research and development facilities in Israel, confirm the potential this technology can create for clinical use.

"Having achieved these significant results in our R&D facility, Pluristem continues making progress toward conducting pre-clinical/clinical trials and meeting other milestones set forth in the Company's business model. Upon regulatory and FDA approval, we believe that our expansion technology will provide ground breaking opportunities in the field of cord blood transplantation," stated Dr. Irit Arbel, CEO.

For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.pluristem.com.

About Pluristem

Pluristem is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of stem cell expansion technology. Pluristem's core technology is designed to expand hematopoietic stem cells for bone marrow transplantations using the PluriX(TM) bioreactor. The unique quality of the PluriX(TM) Bioreactor is its ability to create a 3-D microenvironment that closely resembles the structure and function of the natural bone marrow environment. Upon successful development and regulatory approval, this technology should provide critical stem cell expansion services to cord blood banks and transplants centers in the U.S. and Europe

Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this document that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding: our developing stem cell technology into a useful product that could address fatal illnesses, that our system can support the growth and reproduction of stromal cells to allow the expansion of hematopoietic stem cells from Cord Blood and that the PluriX(TM) bioreactor system creates a 3-D artificial physiological environment in which the stem cells can be expanded to quantities large enough for several adult transplants. Actual outcomes and our actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as the inability to complete its obligations under the stem cell license agreement, inability to finance the planned development of the technology, inability to obtain regulatory approval for commercial use of our products and unforeseen technical difficulties in developing the stem cell technology, which could among other things, delay or prevent product release. For further risk factors see Pluristem's filings with the SEC.

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Contact:

     DeMonte Associates
     Investors:
     Cynthia DeMonte, 212-605-0525
     cdemonte@demonte.com