Athersys Awarded $3.6M in Grant Funding for Stem Cell Product Development
Funding supports advancement for treatment of Neurological and Cardiovascular Conditions and Advanced Manufacturing Platform
ATHX received a grant funding aggregating $3.6M to further advance its MultiStem^® product programs and cell therapy platform.
- SBIR Fast-Track grants up to $1.9M from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to develop MultiStem for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI);
- ReGenesys BVBA, <Belgium> a ATHX subsidiary was also … awarded a $1.2M (€0.9M) grant from the Belgium’s Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) to further develop cell therapy formulations and manufacturing capabilities.
The Bottom Line: These grant awards provide us with additional <non-dilutive> funding to support further development of MultiStem as well as enhance our manufacturing platform. The NINDS grant will develop MultiStem for the treatment of TBI will be conducted in collaboration with researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)MedicalSchool. The research program will include preclinical safety and efficacy studies required to support an Investigational New Drug (IND) application and the clinical investigation of MultiStem treatment of TBI.
- Athersys (ATHX) is UP +$0.15 <+8.02%> to $2.02 in opening <1 hour> trading …
Market Size: TBI is a serious clinical problem that affects young people, members of the armed services and other adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are nearly 1.4M emergency room visits each year as a result of TBI, resulting in 275K hospitalizations and 52K deaths annually. ATHX believes MultiStem could have a significant impact in treating damage from acute neurological injury, such as TBI, ischemic stroke and other indications. Prior work with Athersys has demonstrated that MultiStem modulates the inflammatory component of secondary brain injury in preclinical models of TBI.
