Asterias reports FY18 milestone targets

Asterias Biotherapeutics provided its 2018 milestones targets for its spinal cord injury and cancer immunotherapy programs after successfully achieving its milestones for 2017. These achievements, combined with the Company's financial resources position Asterias to achieve the following milestones during 2018. For AST-OPC1 - Spinal Cord Injury: the company expects to report 6-month data from Cohort 3 and Cohort 4 in February 2018, and the 12-month data from Cohorts 3 and 4 in August 2018. The company anticipates reporting the six-month top-line readout for the entire study in June 2018 and 12-month top-line readout for the entire study in December 2018. The company intends to continue discussions with the FDA to achieve clearance on the design of the next study for AST-OPC1. For, AST-VAC2 - Allogeneic Cancer Immunotherapy: The company anticipates the first patient treated to occur in 2018 and the study will enroll up to 24 patients into one of two cohorts, depending on the stage of each patient's non-small cell lung cancer. Assuming the first patient treated occurs in the first half of 2018, the company will report the initial safety and immunogenicity readouts in the second half of 2018. As of December 31, 2017, Asterias' cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $21.6 million, which includes available-for-sale securities of $8.3 million. During the 2017 fourth quarter, the company completed a registered direct offering that raised approximately $10.4 million in gross proceeds. This, combined with a significantly reduced burn rate entering 2018, provides the Company with sufficient resources to fund is operations through mid-2019.