Athersys Announces Positive Results From Its Exploratory Clinical Study of MultiStem Cell Therapy

Athersys (NASDAQ:ATHX) announced summary results from its exploratory clinical study of the intravenous administration of MultiStem® cell therapy to treat patients who are suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

As quoted in the press release:

Patients in the exploratory study were evaluated through 28 days for the primary clinical assessment and will be further assessed through a one-year follow-up period. Data highlights from the initial evaluation include the following results from the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled portion of the study:

Lower mortality of 25% in the MultiStem treatment group vs. 40% in the placebo group;

40.2% higher ventilator-free (VF) days, (12.9 VF days in the MultiStem treatment group vs. 9.2 VF days for the placebo group);

27.2% higher ICU-free days, (10.3 days in MultiStem subjects vs. 8.1 days for subjects receiving placebo);

In more severe ARDS patients (as evident in a prospectively defined analysis), the difference between MultiStem treatment and placebo was greater – 25% mortality in MultiStem group vs. 50% in placebo group, 14.6 VF days in MultiStem group vs. 8.0 VF days in placebo group, and 11.4 ICU-free days in MultiStem group versus 5.9 ICU-free days in placebo group;

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