Athersys Inc (ATHXQ)

[alexander77]

90day endpoint and dosing won't be a problem. Read why (article published in Nature) and why Multistem will be THE blockbuster of the decade:

"Similarly to rodent MAPCs, human MAPCs (hMAPCs) can also be expanded long term, and several groups have shown that they can differentiate not only towards mesenchymal cell types (adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes and smooth muscle cells) but also towards endothelium (which can be specified to both venous and arterial), skeletal muscle and hepatocyte-like cells.20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 In contrast to rodent MAPCs, hMAPCs do not require LIF for their self-renewal and do not express significant levels of Oct4. When grafted in vivo in a model of severe limb ischemia, hMAPCs significantly increased angiogenesis and endogenous stem cell proliferation, leading to less ischemia and therefore improved skeletal muscle function.

So far, it has been shown that hMAPCs exert strong immunosuppressive effects on T-cell proliferation.Furthermore, the suppressive effect was not influenced by MHC compatibility as both autologous and third party stem cells showed similar suppression. These findings are of great clinical relevance because hMAPCs are aimed at being used as an off-the-shelf stem cell product for adoptive cellular therapy. In addition, hMAPCs suppressed T-cell proliferation of memory T cells upon stimulation with recall antigens and of effector T cells during a secondary MLR. Even delayed addition of hMAPCs to a MLR showed similar hMAPC-induced inhibitory effects on alloreactive T cells. These data suggest that hMAPCs can also suppress an ongoing immune response. Importantly, this finding indicates that hMAPCs, when used in clinical settings, can be applied not only for the prevention but also for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases. The suppressive effect of hMAPCs was not abrogated by pretreatment with IFN-?. Hence, hMAPCs might remain immunosuppressive when injected into an inflammatory environment in vivo"

http://www.nature.com/icb/journal/v91/n1/full/icb201264a.html