OCEANSIDE ---- International Stem Cell Corp. named a new chief executive and president this week. The company said the appointments help it prepare for placing its stem cell-based disease treatments in human clinical trials.

Andrey Semechkin, the company's executive vice president, will become chief executive officer Sunday. Brian Lundstrom has joined the company as president. Kenneth Aldrich, CEO and chairman, will remain chairman.

Jeffrey Janus, president before Lundstrom's arrival, will retain his other roles as senior vice president of the company and chief executive of its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology.

The additions, especially that of Semechkin, bring in management strength the company lacked since the sudden death of chief executive Jeff Krstich in January 2008, of a heart attack, Aldrich said.

"He's very experienced in building businesses and managing organizations as they grow from small to large," Aldrich said of Semechkin.

A native of Russia, Semechkin was recruited last year by the company's top scientist, Elena Revazova, also from Russia. Semechkin is known for his work in management theory and strategic planning.

In the interim since Krstich's death, the company kept busy with research on how its stem cells, made from unfertilized or "parthenogenetic" human egg cells, could be turned into therapies.

The cells act like human embryonic stem cells, the company says. However, they don't raise the ethical problems caused by the use of embryo-derived cells, which are the ancestral cells that develop into nearly all tissues in the body.

Besides the ethical advantage, the parthenogenetic stem cells are also less likely to cause rejection when transplanted into patients, according to the company, which is focusing on treatments for retinal disease, diabetes and liver diseases.

The company's research has drawn praise for advancing stem cell technology, and it has teamed up with respected stem cell researchers such as Hans Keirstead of UC Irvine. However, it has been eclipsed by even more dramatic developments in turning "adult" stem cells back in time to act like embryonic stem cells.

Getting funded has been extremely difficult, Aldrich said, referring to the investment drought as a "nuclear winter," a phrase used by many to describe the cash-strapped position of many biotech companies.

Financing prospects have improved, and the company has enough money to last until "well into the middle of next year," Aldrich said.

"We're getting solicited, frankly, from a variety of sources to do financing," Aldrich said. "We'll pick an optimum time for us to raise the additional capital we need."

International Stem Cell Corp. is traded over the counter under the symbol ISCO, and can be reached at www.internationalstemcell.com or 760-940-6383.

Call staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at 760-739-6641. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com.