Explosive revenue growth predicted in this sector. MSB attracting a lot of attention. AVH under the radar but out in front of the feild.
July 26, 2011
Regenerative Medicine Starts To Attract Attention From Investors Athersys Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX), Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTI) and other regenerative medicine companies could benefit from the increased focus on stem cells and regenerative medicine. Moreover, the combination of late-stage clinical trials and low floats could position these stocks for a strong move to the upside.
Until recently, the regenerative medicine and stem cell industries have been considered a far-fetched idea with only distant potential. Past government regulations limiting the use of human embryonic stem cells – and restrictions on research grants – didn’t help the cause either. But now, the tide is starting to change as many stem cell companies move into later-stage clinical trials, particularly involving non-embryonic stem cell therapies.
The sector is also starting to see a lot of interest among investors eyeing significant transactions and potential FDA decisions as key catalysts. Within the last few months the market has witnessed a $1.7 billion potential partnership between Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH) and Australian stem cell company Mesoblast (ASX:MSB), which has seen its shares rise by roughly 5-fold in the past year. In addition, Shire (LON:SHP) recently acquired Advanced Biohealing for $750 million, a private cell therapy company that was on the verge of completing an initial public offering. These companies, and the market, are betting that the $300 billion that Americans currently spend each year on drugs that only treat the symptoms of disease will eventually be poured into regenerative medicines that can actually treat the causes of disease and ultimately create a huge new industry that will impact healthcare in many ways.
The timing is also very attractive for some early stage investors. Many regenerative medicine companies have relatively low floats, making their shares susceptible to rapid moves upward. Assuming that the pipeline of emerging therapies continues to demonstrate evidence of safety and therapeutic effectiveness, this could mean rapid returns for the emerging industry as these clinical trials move towards completion.
Athersys Represents a Mature Play on the Industry
Athersys Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing an innovative stem cell platform called MultiStem®. Using this single platform, the company is developing a growing pipeline of highly differentiated, potential best-in-class therapeutics to treat diseases ranging from heart disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) to Ischemic Stroke and more.
The MultiStem® platform is a patented and proprietary stem cell product for the treatment of multiple diseases and conditions in the cardiovascular, neurological, inflammatory and immune disease areas. Meanwhile, the biologic product can be manufactured on an industrial scale from human stem cells obtained from the bone marrow of a single consenting donor without genetic modification. The product can be stored frozen, and administered “off-the-shelf”, just like a traditional biologic therapy.
The company already has ongoing clinical trials with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFI) – for IBD – and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. – for Acute Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) – as well as ten additional programs of its own. Since these programs all use the same MultiStem platform, the firm hopes to expedite future clinical trials and establish additional partnerships that cover some major areas of unmet medical needs, that represent potential multi-billion markets.
Attractive Valuations and Blockbuster Potential
In April, Research and Markets projected that regenerative medicine will cause a paradigm shift in drug discovery and medicine. The analyst projected that the U.S. stem cell market would likely register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45% between 2011 and 2013. Meanwhile, a separate report from Global Market Watch forecast that the industry will reach $63.8 billion by 2015.
The combination of these rapid industry growth rates and slow acceptance of regenerative medicine on Wall Street has yielded a unique opportunity for investors. Athersys Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX) offers broad exposure in multiple indications with rapidly advancing trials, which makes it worth a closer look for early stage investors looking to capitalize on a potential paradigm shift in the medical industry. July 26, 2011
Regenerative Medicine Starts To Attract Attention From Investors Athersys Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX), Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN), Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTI) and other regenerative medicine companies could benefit from the increased focus on stem cells and regenerative medicine. Moreover, the combination of late-stage clinical trials and low floats could position these stocks for a strong move to the upside.
Until recently, the regenerative medicine and stem cell industries have been considered a far-fetched idea with only distant potential. Past government regulations limiting the use of human embryonic stem cells – and restrictions on research grants – didn’t help the cause either. But now, the tide is starting to change as many stem cell companies move into later-stage clinical trials, particularly involving non-embryonic stem cell therapies.
The sector is also starting to see a lot of interest among investors eyeing significant transactions and potential FDA decisions as key catalysts. Within the last few months the market has witnessed a $1.7 billion potential partnership between Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH) and Australian stem cell company Mesoblast (ASX:MSB), which has seen its shares rise by roughly 5-fold in the past year. In addition, Shire (LON:SHP) recently acquired Advanced Biohealing for $750 million, a private cell therapy company that was on the verge of completing an initial public offering. These companies, and the market, are betting that the $300 billion that Americans currently spend each year on drugs that only treat the symptoms of disease will eventually be poured into regenerative medicines that can actually treat the causes of disease and ultimately create a huge new industry that will impact healthcare in many ways.
The timing is also very attractive for some early stage investors. Many regenerative medicine companies have relatively low floats, making their shares susceptible to rapid moves upward. Assuming that the pipeline of emerging therapies continues to demonstrate evidence of safety and therapeutic effectiveness, this could mean rapid returns for the emerging industry as these clinical trials move towards completion.
Athersys Represents a Mature Play on the Industry
Athersys Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing an innovative stem cell platform called MultiStem®. Using this single platform, the company is developing a growing pipeline of highly differentiated, potential best-in-class therapeutics to treat diseases ranging from heart disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) to Ischemic Stroke and more.
The MultiStem® platform is a patented and proprietary stem cell product for the treatment of multiple diseases and conditions in the cardiovascular, neurological, inflammatory and immune disease areas. Meanwhile, the biologic product can be manufactured on an industrial scale from human stem cells obtained from the bone marrow of a single consenting donor without genetic modification. The product can be stored frozen, and administered “off-the-shelf”, just like a traditional biologic therapy.
The company already has ongoing clinical trials with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFI) – for IBD – and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. – for Acute Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) – as well as ten additional programs of its own. Since these programs all use the same MultiStem platform, the firm hopes to expedite future clinical trials and establish additional partnerships that cover some major areas of unmet medical needs, that represent potential multi-billion markets.
Attractive Valuations and Blockbuster Potential
In April, Research and Markets projected that regenerative medicine will cause a paradigm shift in drug discovery and medicine. The analyst projected that the U.S. stem cell market would likely register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45% between 2011 and 2013. Meanwhile, a separate report from Global Market Watch forecast that the industry will reach $63.8 billion by 2015.
The combination of these rapid industry growth rates and slow acceptance of regenerative medicine on Wall Street has yielded a unique opportunity for investors. Athersys Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX) offers broad exposure in multiple indications with rapidly advancing trials, which makes it worth a closer look for early stage investors looking to capitalize on a potential paradigm shift in the medical industry.
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