CLEVELAND, Ohio — Athersys Inc. has suspended development of its drug to treat obesity because of rising costs.
But the Cleveland, Ohio, biopharmaceutical company is forging ahead on developing its adult stem cell therapy — MultiStem — for victims of heart attacks, strokes and a complication of bone marrow transplants, the company said in an earnings statement late Thursday afternoon.
Athersys lost $4.71 million, or 25 cents a diluted share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That was about the same as the year-ago loss of $4.70 million, or 25 cents a diluted share.
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Revenue, comprised of license fees and grants, fell 68 percent to $259,000 in the fourth quarter from $798,000 a year ago.
For all of 2008, Athersys lost $18 million, or 95 cents cents a diluted share, an improvement from a loss of $24.4 million, or $2.26 a diluted share, in 2007. The company’s per-share values for 2008 and 2007 are not comparable because Athersys sold initial shares to the public in mid-2007, greatly increased the number of outstanding shares.
Revenue was down slightly to $3.1 million in 2008 compared with $3.3 million in 2007.
Last year, Athersys was encouraged by positive safety results from Phase 1 clinical trials of its ATHX-105, which targets a brain receptor to regulate appetite without causing serious side effects.
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But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wanted more information and tests from Athersys before it approved a Phase 2 trial design. Through the additional tests and discussions with the FDA, Athersys decided further development of the drug would take substantially more development time, risk and cost than anticipated.
So Athersys decided to suspend development of ATHX-105 and to focus on next-generation drugs with better characteristics.
The company also is developing drugs to treat cognitive disorders such as attention-deficit disorder, schizophrenia and chronic fatigue. Athersys shares lost 3 cents today, closing at 49 cents on the NASDAQ Stock Market.
[Front page image courtesy of Flickr user Vizzzual.com]
