Analysis of the EAP, page-131

@dplane, great to have you on the thread... I'd be most interested in your take on the following language from Mesoblast's web site:

"Mesenchymal Lineage Cells. ... Our MLC technology platform enables development of a broad product range based on distinct cell types derived from, or that are the progeny of, the earliest precursors of the mesenchymal cell lineage in adult tissues; these cells are known as mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs)."

So, the question becomes whether Athersys' MAPC's are mesencymal lineage? It's why I find the sentence in the Khan and Newsome paper that I discuss above to be of interest.
Maybe no one knows exactly how differentiated/undifferentiated MAPC's really are? I would think at some point, if they become a true commercial threat ie if ATHX ever files a BLA in the remote future, someone at Mesoblast would want to get a sample and analyze them to find out cell surface marker and characteristics, etc. Until they get closer to commercialization, would it even be worthwhile to spend effort on it? Your thoughts appreciated. I've seen papers where they try to hint these cells might even have the ability to differentiate along a neural lineage, that's hard to believe, but lack of differentiation may explain why they have to inject 6-10x the number of cells Mesoblast would inject and why they have had trouble getting trials done - inefficacy. Another possibility is that they are using cell culture techniques to differentiate them more than is realized?