Pluristem (NASDAQ:PSTI) continues its upward trend this morning on news Wednesday that the company is partnering with CPC Clinical Research to begin a Phase II trial of its proprietary PLX-PAD cells for treatment of peripheral artery disease. PSTI shares have increased roughly 40% since Wednesday’s announcement with Thursday’s volume nearly 10 times its 30-day average. The company develops placenta-based cell therapies for treating peripheral artery disease, bone marrow aplasia, and orthopedic indications among others. Despite its array of promising stem cell therapies in the pipeline, PSTI is still years away from commercialization of any of its products, if successfully developed. As a result, the recent share price appreciation is unlikely to last on news of little material value. Stock price is likely to fatigue, and give back gains seen from the action seen earlier this week.
Stemcells Inc (NASDAQ:STEM) had a similar ride early this week after announcing positive results of an animal-model Alzheimer’s study. The company, which burns through about $30M a year, has only $17M cash on hand and no significant revenue-generating capability in the foreseeable future. Shares traded upwards sporadically, nearly double Monday’s closing price at times, before beginning their descent yesterday. STEM continued its downward momentum this morning (-4%) as the excitement over a treatment at least half-a-decade from commercialization wears off.
