Hello all. I spoke with Tom Fox yesterday. Following are some of my thoughts based on my conversation:
It appears that most if not all of the various meetings are being held in LA (Los Angeles). Since AMST has an office leased in SF, I asked why everything was happening in LA. The answer is that the Financial Advisor to the large Histostem investor (the guy writing the checks to support Amstem) lives in LA, and the banking is being established in LA. LA seems to be the meeting place of choice for Dwight, SAMBA, Histostem Reps etc.
I asked whether or not the influx of capital to Amstem was simply to bring accounts current for subsequent termination of contracts, or if the accounts were being brought current to continue business with the same players. The answer is that the funding will not only bring bills current, but will also provide funding to move projects forward.
I asked whether or not SteMixx was still the number one priority for the company at this point, as it was identified as such by all leadership over the past year. SteMixx is indeed still the top priority. I was under the assumption from way back that the company (Dwight) intended on pursuing production capacity of SteMixx in the U.S. rather than incur additional shipping costs for the product from Korea. In other words, the raw stem cell material used in the product will be shipped to the U.S. and a U.S. manufacturer will then produce SteMixx. This will certainly improve margins on the product for the company and would allow for much greater point-to-point communications for fluctuations in product demand and subsequent increases or decreases in production. This will also allow the company to maintain a reasonable stock of product.
I did ask about financials moving forward and what the priority was. Financials are certainly a priority as the lack of financials has a very negative effect on a variety of fronts. For AMST to be considered a viable investment for larger institutional type players there has to be financials. I did not get an idea on when to expect the filings. I did however, ask if the upcoming Histostem 2010 annual report would provide enough clarity for KPMG to move forward with the AMST reporting. Once again, I'm not really sure what is happening here. I did get the idea (as I always have) that company business will move forward without the financials in place, and the financials will simply be updated at the appropriate time.
My overall take on my conversation with Tom was very positive and encouraging (as always). I have faith that a major step has taken place recently (i.e. funding) that will allow Dwight to start executing his plan. I do not suggest you either buy or sell this issue. My personal reason for staying the course with AMST is that I simply bought into the idea that we have a world class team supporting a dynamic business model. The team, in my opinion, has simply been bogged down by cultural issues in both communication and business practices. The fact that all parties have been willing to work through this painful process speaks volumes to me and solidifies for me the idea that Histostem presents a tremendous opportunity for all involved (this is all my opinion).
Anyway, just thought I'd share a bit with you folks. Best wishes to all.
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