Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHX) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

On January 15, 2020, Athersys, Inc. (the \”Company\”, \”we\”, \”us\”, or \”our\”) announced that, effective January 31, 2020, Ivor Macleod will become the Company\’s Chief Financial Officer. Laura K. Campbell, the Company\’s Senior Vice President of Finance, will continue to serve as the Company\’s principal accounting officer. Additionally, Ms. Campbell will continue to act as the Company\’s principal financial officer until the Company files its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Mr. Macleod, age 58, previously served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Eisai Inc., the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd., a research-based human health care company that discovers, develops and markets products globally, from 2015 to 2018. Prior to joining Eisai, Mr. Macleod served as Vice President Finance – Merck Research Labs at Merck & Co., Inc., a global health care company that delivers innovative health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, from 2012 to 2015. Before joining Merck, Mr. Macleod served from 1998 to 2012 at F. Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., a multinational health care company, in various roles, including as General Manager and Chief Financial Officer from 2000 to 2012.

In connection with Mr. Macleod’s appointment as Chief Financial Officer, we have entered into an offer letter agreement with Mr. Macleod (the “Offer Letter”), the key compensation terms of which are expected to be memorialized in an employment agreement with Mr. Macleod (an “Employment Agreement”). The Offer Letter includes the following material terms:

As indicated above, the key compensation terms of the Offer Letter are expected to be memorialized in an Employment Agreement. The Employment Agreement is expected to include the following additional features, including: (1) continued payment of Mr. Macleod’s base salary for a 12-month period in the event that his employment with the Company is terminated due to disability; (2) a one-year term for the Employment Agreement, subject to automatic annual renewal thereafter unless the Company provides timely notice of non-renewal; (3) a requirement that Mr. Macleod execute a customary release of claims in favor of the Company in order to receive severance compensation; and (4) customary restrictive covenants, including non-competition and confidentiality provisions.

About Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHX)

Athersys, Inc. is an international biotechnology company that is focused primarily in the field of regenerative medicine. The Company’s MultiStem cell therapy, an allogeneic stem cell product, is its lead platform product and is in later-stage clinical development. Its clinical development programs are focused on treating neurological conditions, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory and immune disorders, certain pulmonary conditions and other conditions where the standard of care is limited or inadequate for many patients. In the neurological area, the Company evaluated in a completed Phase II trial, the potential for MultiStem treatment of patients with a history of neurological damage from an ischemic stroke. The Company initiated a Phase II clinical study in the United States for the administration of MultiStem cell therapy to patients with a history of an acute myocardial infarction, or AMI.