Athersys to Present at Seventh Annual BIO Investor Forum

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHX) today announced it will present at the Seventh Annual BIO Investor Forum, to be held October 29-31^st, 2008, at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Gil Van Bokkelen, Chairman and Chief Executive, will present on Thursday, October 30^th, at 8:00 AM (Pacific Time). More information about the conference is available at: www.investorforum.bio.org.

About Athersys, Inc.

Athersys is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutic product candidates designed to extend and enhance the quality of human life. In addition to its lead product candidate, ATHX-105, the Company is developing other orally active pharmaceutical product candidates for the treatment of metabolic and central nervous system disorders. Athersys is also developing MultiStem^®, a patented, adult-derived “off-the-shelf” stem cell product platform for multiple disease indications, including damage caused by myocardial infarction, bone marrow transplantation/oncology support, ischemic stroke and other indications. More information is available at www.athersys.com.