Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc (NYSE:AST)
Asterias Biotherapuetics has had a relatively strong run over the past several trading sessions. However, today, the same can’t be said. Unfortunately, the stock is down today. However, is this something to be concerned about or is it more of an opportunity. Today, we’ll talk about what we’re seeing from the stock, the fundamental news we’ve seen recently, and whether or not I believe this is a signal to get out of AST now while you still can or get in before the big gains start!
What We’re Seeing From AST
As mentioned above, Asterias Biotheraputics has had a decent run in the market over the past several trading sessions. We’ll get into why later. However, for now, let’s chat a bit about what we’re seeing today. Unfortunately, it’s not as positive as it has been. In fact, at the moment (12:39), AST is trading at $4.72 per share after a loss of $0.12 per share or 2.58%.
Looking At The Fundamentals
AST is a company that is not only focused on, but pioneering the field that’s becoming known as regenerative medicine. The good news is that they’re doing a great job at it. In fact, just days ago, AST released big news.
Recently, the company has been working on its manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Freemont CA. A big piece of this is completing the validation and start up of Good Manufacturing Practices, a set of rigorous quality and safety requirements for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products through every step of clinical trials and commercial sales. Days ago, the company announced that it has completed the GMP process for the Freemont manufacturing facility. In a statement, Katy Spink, Ph.D., CEO at AST had the following to offer…
“The completion of start-up and validation in the new Asterias manufacturing facility positions us to initiate GMP manufacturing activities in preparation for late-stage clinical trials of AST-OPC1…. This achievement is particularly important given the encouraging clinical efficacy and safety data we reported for AST-OPC1 last September, as well as the upcoming additional clinical readouts we are looking forward to during 2017.”
Looking Back A Bit Further
Looking back a bit further, the news above wasn’t the only positive news we’ve seen lately out of AST. In fact, in early November, the company made a massive announcement that further validates their work. The announcement was that the first patient with complete (AIS-A) cervical spinal cord injury was successfully administered the highest dose of 20 million cells of AST-OPC1 in the SciStar clinical trial. In a statement, Dr. Edward Wirth, the CMO at Asterias had the following to offer…
“We have been very encouraged by the early clinical efficacy and safety data for AST-OPC1, and we now look forward to evaluating the 20 million cell does in complete cervical spinal cord injury patients… Based on extensive pre-clinical research, this is in the dosing range where we would expect to see optimal clinical improvement in these patients.”
So, Is It Time To Buy?
The simple answer is yes. At the end of the day, I believe that the declines today are nothing more than a simple correction. This is a great buying opportunity!