Asterias Biotherapeutics (AST) Tops Q3 EPS by 5c

Asterias Biotherapeutics (NYSE: AST) reported Q3 EPS of ($0.06), $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of ($0.11). Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.4 million versus the consensus estimate of $440 thousand.

Cash and cash equivalents were $12.6 million as of September 30, 2015, compared to $3.1 million as of December 31, 2014. At September 30, 2015, the Company held 3.9 million BioTime common shares, with a market value of approximately $11.6 million on that date

"Asterias continued to achieve solid progress in the third quarter toward advancing the clinical development of our key therapeutic programs," stated Pedro Lichtinger, President and CEO of Asterias. "We completed recruitment for the initial, low-dose safety cohort of the AST-OPC1 Phase 1/2a clinical trial for spinal cord injury. To date, no serious adverse events have been observed in any of the three treated patients. Following recommendation by the Data Monitoring Committee, we started patient enrollment for the second cohort in which patients will be treated with a higher dose of AST-OPC1 that is in the range that we believe to be efficacious and that has the potential to bring benefit to patients. Importantly, the first patient in the initial, low-dose safety cohort has shown steady neurological improvement at both 2-month and 3-month post-injection assessments. Also during the quarter, we announced a strategic collaboration to advance development of large scale manufacturing processes for AST-VAC2, our allogeneic dendritic cell immunotherapy. This manufacturing agreement will streamline and scale manufacturing processes for AST-VAC2 to support advanced clinical trials, including the planned Phase 1/2a clinical trial in lung cancer, and eventual commercialization of AST-VAC2. We anticipate achieving significant additional clinical milestones during the next 12 months."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Asterias Biotherapeutics (AST) click here.

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