Athersys Announces Private Placement Financing - $ATHX

Athersys, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHX), a leader in the emerging field of regenerative medicine, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain accredited investors in connection with a private placement financing transaction. Upon the closing of the transaction, Athersys will receive gross proceeds of approximately $9.0 million in exchange for the issuance of approximately 4,347,827 shares of Athersys common stock and warrants to purchase approximately 4,347,827 shares of Athersys common stock. The warrants will be exercisable for a period of five years at an exercise price of $2.07 per share. Athersys intends to use the net proceeds of the transaction to support its ongoing business development and clinical efforts, and for general corporate purposes.

Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as sole lead placement agent for the offering, William Blair & Company and First Analysis Securities Corporation acted as co-placement agents and WBB Securities, LLC acted as financial advisor.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Full press release

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Athersys ($ATHX) More News Flow, Does it Matter ?

Athersys (NASDAQ: ATHX) reports more news flow from its data on Multi-stem in stroke. From the press release:

"Medical researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School presented new research results this morning at the American Heart Association International Stroke Conference that highlight the role of the spleen in the mechanisms underlying how MultiStem reduces damage and enhances functional recovery in animals after an ischemic stroke.

The study illustrated the potential benefits of MultiStem therapy for treating stroke using standard preclinical models. Researchers observed that intravenous administration of MultiStem one day after a stroke resulted in a substantial reduction in brain tissue loss 28 days post-stroke.

The spleen is believed to play a significant role in the body's immune response to the stroke that can result in additional damage following the primary ischemic event. After administration, MultiStem cells limit the inflammatory cascade that results from the initial stroke, thereby reducing the secondary damage that occurs.

These outcomes support prior research at UTHealth, in which researchers found that animals treated with MultiStem showed normal spleen size and increased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the blood whereas animals treated with placebo showed a reduction in spleen size and an increase in inflammatory cytokines in the blood."

Daily Dose Conclusion: Not sure that anyone cares about pre-clinical models in stroke. Athersys is cheap based on market cap but the clinical pathway ahead for multi-stem is not clear and definitive proof of concept, for multi-stem has yet to be established. On the positive side multi-stem looks like it could have utility in a wide range of indications from ulcerative colitis, GvHD, to ischemic disease (cardiovascular, stroke).

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Athersys ($ATHX) : GvHD Phase 1 data is encouraging...

Athersys (NASDAQ: ATHX) announced in their press release positive results from its Phase I clinical trial of MultiStem, its cell therapy product. The trial was administered to individuals undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) for the treatment of leukemia and related conditions.

Data highlights from the study include:

• The majority of patients participating in the study received transplants from unrelated donors (19 of 36), and nearly all of the patients received peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplants (34 of 36), both of which are associated with a higher risk of GvHD;
• All patients experienced successful neutrophil engraftment (median time of engraftment 15 days), and 86% of patients experienced successful platelet engraftment (median time of engraftment 16 days) which compares favorably to historical clinical experience for this patient population demonstrating a positive impact on blood and immune system recovery;
• Substantial reduction in acute GvHD incidence, relative to historical experience, at the highest single dose (11% grade II-IV GvHD, and 0% grade III-IV GvHD).

These clinical results provide the foundation for further accelerated development of MultiStem for the prevention and reduction of GvHD. Following final review of the data, and subject to input from its key scientific and clinical advisers, Athersys plans to meet with the FDA to discuss plans for the next phase of clinical development. This could include a blinded, controlled phase II/III study of MultiStem for GvHD prophylaxis and HSCT support.

Daily Dose Conclusion: Athersys is building a solid foundation to expand the pipeline in a product with Multistem.

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Athersys (ATHX): Scores Grant Money for TBI and for Formulation

Athersys, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHX) announced $3.6 million in grant funding (actually two separate grants), one for MultiStem (allogeneic cell therapy), and the second for its clinical utility in treating traumatic brain injury (TBI). This is an area that is getting lots of attention as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers lucky enough to escape direct injury often suffer very severe TBI as a result of the percussion (force) related injury. The other grant goes to Athersys subsidiary in Belgium, ReGenesys BVBA, $1.2 million (€0.9 million) from the Belgium's Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) to further develop cell therapy formulations and manufacturing capabilities.

Daily Dose Conclusion: Non-Dilutive financing is always positive and these micro-cap companies know how to make the dollars work to advance their product portfolio or in the case the potential indications for MultiStem. We believe that there is a significant role for multistem to play in TBI and even in stroke however the development costs and commercial approval in these areas is a long way off.

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