
Athersys Inc. (NSDQ:ATHX) CEO Gil Van Bokkelen was elected chairman of the The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine.
ARM says its mission is to to educate key policy makers about the potential of regenerative medicine and to advocate for favorable public policies to facilitate advances in the field. The group was founded last year.
“I am honored to take on this role and work with an organization whose central mission is the advancement of regenerative medicine,” Van Bokkelen said in prepared remarks.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization‘s previous chairman was John Walker of San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company iPierian. Walker completed his term Sept. 30.
The group’s other newly elected officers include officials from Johnson & Johnson, Advanced BioHealing and Aldagen, according to the statement.
Last month, Cleveland-based Athersys reported more positive results from an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of its adult stem cell therapy for the treatment of heart-attack patients.