EDISON EQUITY RESEARCH - ATHERSYS

EDISON EQUITY RESEARCH: ATHERSYS  - EARLIER THE BETTER WITH MULTISTEM

 Athersys has reported headline data from its highly anticipated Phase II study of MultiStem in the semi-acute treatment of ischaemic stroke. The stem cell therapy demonstrated a favourable safety profile, although the primary/secondary efficacy endpoints were not met. While disappointing, a post-hoc analysis indicates that earlier dosing (≤36 hours post-stroke) with MultiStem may impart a meaningful clinical benefit. Our fair value is lowered to $205m ($2.55/share) after a 12-month delay to clinical timelines with a confirmatory study required to determine the early-treatment signal.

 Athersys is a US biotech company developing MultiStem (allogeneic, bone marrow-derived stem cells). A Phase II trial with MultiStem in ischaemic stroke has completed, while further studies in AMI (Phase II) and ARDS (Phase IIa) are planned.

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