MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB: ASTY) announced today that it received approval to list its Series A common stock on the NYSE MKT under the ticker symbol "AST." The Company's shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE MKT on October 8, 2014. Prior to that date, the Company's Series A common stock will continue to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB), but trading on the OTCBB market will cease concurrent with the listing of the Series A shares on the NYSE MKT.
"Trading of our Series A common stock on the NYSE MKT is another major corporate milestone for Asterias," stated Pedro Lichtinger, President and CEO of Asterias. "We believe that the listing on the NYSE MKT will help increase trading liquidity and provide greater exposure to a larger group of investors while increasing awareness of our promising therapeutic products that have the potential to address significant unmet medical needs using our stem cell technology platform. We look forward to the trading of our Series A common stock on the NYSE MKT, the premier U.S. equities market for listing and trading of small growth companies."
In preparation for listing on the NYSE MKT, the Company simplified its capital structure with the completion of the previously announced distribution of BioTime, Inc. common share purchase warrants to holders of Asterias Series A common stock, and with the conversion of all outstanding shares of its Series B common stock into Series A common stock. The Series A common stock is now the only outstanding class of common stock of Asterias.
Mr. Lichtinger continued, "This move to the NYSE MKT comes at a time following the achievement of multiple major corporate milestones for Asterias. Since becoming a publicly traded company in July 2014, Asterias received U.S. FDA clearance to initiate a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of AST-OPC1 in patients with complete cervical spinal cord injury. In addition, Asterias secured non-dilutive funding to advance our immunotherapy cancer vaccine AST-VAC2 into clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer. Asterias also strengthened and expanded its Board of Directors with the appointments of two directors who have a wealth of knowledge and experience in business and financial services, as well as the pharmaceutical industry."
NYSE MKT is a fully integrated trading venue within the NYSE Euronext community and leverages the NYSE's advanced and innovative market model to offer a premier venue for listing and trading the stocks of small companies. The venue utilizes the trading, connectivity and routing technologies of the NYSE platform and offers superior price discovery, superior liquidity and reduced trading volatility. Listed companies benefit from issuer-selected Designated Market Makers (DMM) that utilize world-class NYSE trading systems to discover and improve prices, dampen volatility, add liquidity and enhance value. In addition, NYSE MKT-listed companies gain access to the brand visibility and are eligible for the issuer services enjoyed by the NYSE Euronext community.
"We welcome Asterias to the NYSE MKT family of listed companies and look to having a long-term partnership with them," said Scott Cutler, Executive Vice President, Global Listings at NYSE Euronext. "Asterias will be joining other well-known biotech companies taking advantage of the NYSE's advanced and innovative market model to offer a premier value for listing and trading their stocks."
About Asterias Biotherapeutics
Asterias' core technologies center on stem cells capable of becoming all of the cell types in the human body, a property called pluripotency. Asterias plans to develop therapies based on pluripotent stem cells to treat diseases or injuries in a variety of medical fields having major unmet needs and without adequate therapies available. Asterias initial focus is on two clinical stage programs including oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (AST-OPC1) for spinal cord injuries and antigen-presenting allogeneic dendritic cells (AST-VAC2) for lung cancer.
In October 2013, Asterias acquired the cell therapy assets of Geron Corporation. These assets included INDs for the clinical stage AST-OPC1 and AST-VAC1 programs, banks of cGMP-manufactured AST-OPC1 drug product, cGMP master and working cell banks of human embryonic stem cells, over 400 patents and patent applications filed worldwide including broad issued claims to fundamental platform technologies for the scalable growth of pluripotent stem cells and compositions of matter for several hESC-derived therapeutic cell types, research cell banks, customized reagents and equipment, and various assets relating to the AST-VAC2 program and preclinical programs in cardiology, and orthopedics.
Asterias is a member of the BioTime (NYSE MKT: BTX) family of companies. Asterias Series A Common Stock is traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol ASTY. Additional information about Asterias can be found at www.asteriasbiotherapeutics.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development, and potential opportunities for Asterias, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the businesses of Asterias, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in Asterias' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Asterias disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc.