The Road Gets Harder For Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM)
Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) is off almost 70% over the
last year. The company operates in the stem cell arena
of biotech and its future is based on its proprietary Tissue
Repair Cell (TRC) technology. The market clearly does
not think much of ASTM’s prospects as it sits at $.38,
near its 52-week low.
When the company released Q1 earnings its claimed
that its dilated cardiomyopathy treatment had done
well in early European Union trials. It plans to do similar
work in the US. The therapy is meant for patients who
are not candidates for transplants or any other currently-
available technology. Obviously, there are tens of thousands
of the severely ill who look to the ASTM developments
as among their only hopes.
As part of its quarterly statement, ASTM said that it
may try a reverse-split of it stock to get it back over $1
and into compliance with Nasdaq regulations. But,
if its financial fortunes do not improve soon, it may
not matter.
In the first quarter, ASTM lost over $5 million on virtually
no revenue, up from a loss of $4.5 million in the year
ago period. The company had cash of $26 million.
Like so many of these small biotechs, and Aastrom only
has a market cap of $51 million, the money may run out
before it gets a product to market.
Douglas A. McIntyre