CLEVELAND, June 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Athersys, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHX) announced today that it has joined the
broad-market Russell 3000® Index as of the conclusion of the Russell U.S. Indices annual reconstitution, which became
effective after the U.S. market opened on June 27, 2016. The preliminary list of additions was posted by FTSE Russell earlier this
month.
Annual reconstitution of the Russell U.S. indices captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May
2016, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the U.S. all-cap Russell 3000® Index, which remains in
place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000® Index or small-cap Russell 2000®
Index, as well as the appropriate growth and value style indices. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indices by
objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.
“We are pleased to be included in the Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 Indices, as it represents an important
milestone that should translate to even greater institutional ownership and awareness among funds that benchmark against them,”
commented Gil Van Bokkelen, Chairman & CEO of Athersys. “This should also provide benefits to our shareholders in terms of
increased liquidity and greater visibility among these types of institutional funds. Furthermore, it reflects the important
progress we are making in multiple areas, as we continue working toward our goals of developing safe and effective new medicines
for patients suffering from a stroke or experiencing other areas of substantial unmet medical need, and becoming a leading
biopharmaceutical company.”
“Working with our partner, HEALIOS K.K., we continue to make good progress on preparing the submission of the
J-IND for the upcoming stroke clinical trial in Japan, and as we have described previously, we expect to initiate the trial later
this year,” commented Dr. Van Bokkelen. “The new regulatory framework in Japan allows for either Conditional Approval or Full
Approval of appropriately qualified regenerative medicine therapies that demonstrate both safety and efficacy upon the completion
of the study, and fulfill the other rigorous regulatory requirements implemented by PMDA. Furthermore, in addition to our
ongoing activities in Japan, we have also had very productive discussions with the FDA about the potential development path for the
stroke program and will continue to work with regulators to finalize our approach.”
Indices provided by FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider, are widely used by investment managers and
institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $6 trillion in assets are
benchmarked against the Russell U.S. indices.
For more information on the Russell 3000® Index and the Russell U.S. Indices reconstitution, go to
the “Russell Reconstitution” section on the FTSE Russell website.
About Athersys
Athersys is an international biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutic
product candidates designed to extend and enhance the quality of human life. The Company is developing its MultiStem®
cell therapy product, a patented, adult-derived "off-the-shelf" stem cell product, initially for disease indications in the
cardiovascular, neurological, inflammatory and immune disease areas, and has several ongoing clinical trials evaluating this
potential regenerative medicine product. Athersys has forged strategic partnerships and collaborations with leading pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies, as well as world-renowned research institutions to further develop its platform and products. More
information is available at www.athersys.com.
About FTSE Russell
FTSE Russell is a global index leader and data provider that provides innovative benchmarking, analytics and
data solutions for investors worldwide. FTSE Russell calculates thousands of indices that measure and benchmark markets and
asset classes in more than 70 countries, covering 98% of the investable market, globally.
FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors, globally.
Approximately $10 trillion is currently benchmarked to FTSE Russell indices. For over 30 years, leading asset owners, asset
managers, ETF providers and investment banks have chosen FTSE Russell indices to benchmark their investment performance and create
ETFs, structured products and index-based derivatives.
A core set of universal principles guides FTSE Russell index design and management: a transparent rules-based
methodology is informed by independent committees of leading market participants. FTSE Russell is focused on applying the highest
industry standards in index design and governance, and embraces the IOSCO principles. FTSE Russell is also focused on index
innovation and client collaboration as it seeks to enhance the breadth, depth and reach of its offering.
FTSE Russell is wholly-owned by London Stock Exchange Group. For more information, visit www.ftserussell.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the expected timetable
for development of our product candidates, our growth strategy, and our future financial performance, including our operations,
economic performance, financial condition, prospects, and other future events. We have attempted to identify forward-looking
statements by using such words as "anticipates," "believes," "can," "continue," "could," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may,"
"plans," "potential," "should," “suggest,” "will," or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are only
predictions and are largely based on our current expectations. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other
factors could affect the accuracy of these statements. Some of the more significant known risks that we face that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those implied by forward-looking statements are the risks and uncertainties inherent in
the process of discovering, developing, and commercializing products that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics,
such as the uncertainty regarding market acceptance of our product candidates and our ability to generate revenues, including
MultiStem for the treatment of ischemic stroke, acute myocardial infarction, spinal cord injury and acute respiratory distress
syndrome and other disease indications, including graft-versus-host disease. These risks may cause our actual results, levels of
activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Other important factors to consider in evaluating our
forward-looking statements include: the success of our collaboration with Healios, our possible inability to realize commercially
valuable discoveries in our collaborations with pharmaceutical and other biotechnology companies; the success of our
collaborations, including our ability to reach milestones and receive milestone payments, including in connection with our
collaboration with Healios, and whether any products are successfully developed and sold so that we earn royalty payments; our
collaborators' ability to continue to fulfill their obligations under the terms of our collaboration agreements; the success of our
efforts to enter into new strategic partnerships or collaborations and advance our programs; our ability to raise additional
capital; results from our MultiStem clinical trials; the possibility of delays in, adverse results of, and excessive costs of the
development process; our ability to successfully initiate and complete clinical trials; changes in external market factors; changes
in our industry's overall performance; changes in our business strategy; our ability to protect our intellectual property
portfolio; our possible inability to execute our strategy due to changes in our industry or the economy generally; changes in
productivity and reliability of suppliers; and the success of our competitors and the emergence of new competitors. You should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly
update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact: William (B.J.) Lehmann, J.D. President and Chief Operating Officer Tel: (216) 431-9900 bjlehmann@athersys.com
