Shares of Athersys Inc., the regenerative medicine company in Cleveland, rose as high as $1.50 and fell as low as $1.04 on Wednesday before ending the day down nearly 18% at $1.12.
The rollercoaster trading came on the final day of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, at which Athersys managers were meeting with investors.
Wednesday's ride didn't end with the stock market's closing bell at 4 p.m. ET. Athersys shares (Nasdaq: ATHX) were up 11.6% to $1.25 at 5:18 p.m. in after-hours trading on Wednesday. (The Nasdaq Stock Market takes after-hour stock bids until 8 p.m. each trading day.)
The company's stock price is notable because if it stays above $1 for 10 consecutive business days, Athersys will regain compliance with Nasdaq's minimum price listing requirement.
Athersys shares slipped below the $1 mark on Nov. 9 despite a reverse stock split in August that initially raised their price to $3.25.
That said, the company also is out of compliance with Nasdaq's minimum listing requirements for market value and shareholder equity, according to a regulatory filing.
The stock market gives companies time to regain compliance with listing requirements, but if they don't, the companies risk Nasdaq delisting their shares.
For most of the last year, clinical-stage Athersys has been cutting costs to preserve capital while looking for new partners to help launch its adult stem cell therapy, MultiStem.
An upswing in the company's share price strengthened on Friday after Athersys appointed a biotech and drug commercialization professional to its board of directors.
And while at the J.P. Morgan investor conference on Monday, Athersys issued a clinical update reminding investors that MultiStem "meets or even exceeds the efficacy" of tPA — the standard of care for dissolving blood clots in the brains of stroke patients — after 90 days.
The company also reminded investors that it is nearing the end of the clinical trials for using MultiStem to treat ischemic stroke patients and for manufacturing its adult stem cell therapy using a new manufacturing process.
