Companies in stem cell news:

Exelixis – program looking at the Notch pathway (also Wnt and Hedgehog), which is critical for the self-renewal process of stem cells. They have a collaboration with Genentech in this area and together they are looking for small molecules, proteins and/or antibodies that would regulate Notch activity up or down thereby influencing the proliferative or differentiation process in the cells.

http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23093/

"Genentech

In June of 2005, Exelixis entered into a partnership with Genentech for the discovery and development of therapeutics to target cancer, inflammatory diseases, and tissue growth and repair. Under the collaboration, Genentech will primarily focus on generating antibodies to proteins provided by Exelixis, and the companies will jointly assess their utility in a variety of cancer, inflammation and tissue repair models. Under the terms of the collaboration, Genentech will pay Exelixis an upfront payment and provide R&D funding over three years, totaling $16 million. For therapeutics developed in cancer, Exelixis will receive milestone and royalty payments. Exelixis maintains an option to share a portion of the costs and profits associated with the development, manufacturing and commercialization of products in either the tissue growth and repair field or the inflammation field."

http://www.exelixis.com/about_alliances.shtml

Not sure if this is a " Competitor" yet. But I thought I would post it here