Athersys Inc (ATHXQ)

[H2R]

A couple of notes from the CC

1- On the financing:

Another question comes from Jesse, who asked is the company actively planning or currently conducting a financing with investment bankers? Thanks for the question, Jesse. The short answer is no, we are not currently conducting a financing with any investment bankers or actively planning one. Our current focus is on the partnering initiatives I mentioned in addition to our operational responsibilities and priorities. As we have demonstrated, we have tools in place that enable us to maintain a healthy balance sheet and we are committed to doing just that. It’s important to note, however, that we in the board maintain the option and flexibility to do whatever we feel is in the best interest of the company and our shareholders, including an equity financing if we believe it’s an appropriate thing to do. But as I mentioned right now, our focus is in other areas.

2- Yet another biotech stock manipulation, this time uncovered

One final question we wanted to address today relates to our recent blog written about the company, which contains false and misleading information about the company, our key programs and other activities. This article was authored by an unnamed individual writing under a pseudonym. On the morning the article first appeared we received an alert from the NASDAQ market surveillance team who promptly notified us of the article and also some unusual and suspicious trading activity. We subsequently learned the true identity of the author who manages a short selling hedge fund and learned that they along with several other individuals are currently the subject of litigation for alleged manipulative training or so-called short and historic trading schemes. This matter is currently under investigation by FINRA and NASDAQ and we are also referring it to the SEC. We take these types of issues seriously and has been working with our legal counsel to take appropriate action so that we may hold the people in question fully responsible for their actions. While we received a number of other questions, we feel that most of these have been adequately addressed in our comments or filings.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4122618-athersys-athx-ceo-gil-van-bokkelen-q3-2017-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single