Founder of Berjaya Group, Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, and Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan of the Hong Leong Group are now substantial shareholders of these firms, sparking massive interest in their shares.

Shares of StemLife, operator of a stem cell bank, have more than tripled to RM2.28 as at February 14 since the start of the year.

TMC Life Sciences Bhd, a fertility treatment provider, has gained some 35 per cent so far this year, outperforming the broader market's 15 per cent rise.

"StemLife's main business growth is in Malaysia where income among the country's middle-class is rising," TA Securities analyst Yeoh Yung Juen told Business Times.

Stem cells can turn into any kind of cell in the body and is useful to combat diseases like cancer.

Malaysia's stem cell fraternity is understood to be far from saturation, with only two players on board so far - StemLife and privately-owned Cyrocord.

Likewise, in neighbouring Singapore, there are also two companies dealing with stem cells, namely StemCord Pte Ltd and CordLife Pte Ltd.

Malaysia has a price advantage over Singapore, Yeoh said. Services in Malaysia are more than a third cheaper at about RM6,250 compared with up to RM9,890 across the causeway.

StemLife's facility, capable of storing up to 28,000 stem cell sample pouches, is only about 30 per cent utilised so far, Yeoh said.

Its net profit in the nine months to September 2006 grew 59 per cent to RM2.7 million, while revenue increased 92 per cent to RM9.8 million.

Vincent Tan bought some 12.5 per cent of StemLife in October last year when the stock was hovering around 90-sen level. US investment bank, Goldman Sachs, then bought about 6 per cent of the company in January and raised its stake to 7.1 per cent in February.

Meanwhile, the emergence of diversified Hong Leong group's Quek as a substantial shareholder in TMC is expected to result in synergistic benefits for both parties, a TMC official said.

Quek has bought a 14.53 per cent stake in TMC via Associated Land Sdn Bhd, a Hong Leong unit.

"Quek's entry is due to synergistic reasons," TMC managing director Dr Colin Lee said without specifying the reasons.

TMC, in its filings to the exchange, has said the company is poised to benefit from the increasing number of infertile couples due to late marriages and more awareness on infertility treatments.

In the nine months to September 2006, the company's net profit more than doubled to RM6.6 million, while revenue grew by a fifth to RM18.5 million.