Biotime ($BTX) demonstrates method for the manufacture of cartilage producing cells from human embryonic stem cells

BioTime (NYSE: BTX) and its wholly owned subsidiary OrthoCyte Corporation reported today a means of manufacturing cartilage from human embryonic stem cells that is suited for industrial scale-up of a product for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

• The paper, published online in the peer-reviewed journal Regenerative Medicine, characterizes a progenitor cell line produced from human embryonic stem cells using proprietary ACTCellerate technology.
• The study reports that the cells are capable of regenerating cartilage with long sought-after identification markers.
• The study also shows that the cells can be directly expanded on a scale needed for industrial manufacture, which will be necessary in order to make transplantable cells available in commercial quantities.

BioTime ($BTX) : R&D Day in NYC today

BioTime Investor Day

BioTime, Inc. is pleased to invite you to attend a unique forum featuring in depth presentations from the Company’s key collaborators and subsidiaries. A keynote address will be presented by BioTime and OncoCyte Board member, Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., former FDA Commissioner and Director of the National Cancer Institute.  

Monday, April 23, 2012
2:00PM – 6:15PM with cocktail reception to follow

Harvard Club of New York City, Biddle Room
27 W.44th Street, New York, NY (between 5th & 6th Avenues)

PRESENTING SUBSIDIARIES:

• Cell Cure NeuroSciences, Ltd. - Leading supplier of therapeutic cells for the treatment of retinal and neural degenerative disease. OpRegen™ cell therapy platform utilizes proprietary technology that drives differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells.
• OncoCyte Corporation – Oncology-focused diagnostics company leveraging embryonic stem cell-derived technology in order to provide earlier detection and improve patients’ quality and length of life by specifically removing malignant tumors without affecting nearby normal body tissue.
• OrthoCyte Corporation – Developer of cellular therapeutics for orthopedic disorders. The division’s lead project is the development of human embryonic progenitor (hEP) cell lines for cartilage repair, including osteoarthritis. 
• ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc. – Developer of therapeutics for cardiovascular and blood diseases based on its ReCyte™ iPS technology. This platform reverses the developmental aging of human cells and generates embryonic vascular and blood progenitors from the ReCyte cell lines for therapeutic use in age-related vascular and blood disorders, such as coronary disease and heart failure. 
• LifeMap Sciences, Inc. – Developer of a discovery platform, including a web-based database, to aid R&D efforts in the stem cells field, using embryonic stem cells, progenitor cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and other relevant cell types.
• BioTime Asia, Ltd. – Developer and marketer of BioTime stem cell technology within Asian geographies, with a particular focus within China. The Asian region offers significant developmental advantages, such as dense patient populations, flexible regulation and public acceptance, and abbreviated clinical application timelines.

Biotime ($BTX) and subsidiary LifeMap Sciences acquire XenneX

BioTime (NYSE: BTM) and its wholly owned subsidiary LifeMap Sciences announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire XenneX, Inc. through a merger of XenneX into LifeMap Sciences.

• The acquisition is expected to close within thirty days.
• XenneX holds the exclusive, worldwide licenses to market GeneCards and PanDaTox. GeneCards is a searchable, integrated, database of human genes that provides concise genomic, transcriptomic, genetic, proteomic, functional and disease related information, on all known and predicted human genes. PanDaTox is a recently developed, searchable, database that can be used to identify genes and intergenic regions that are unclonable in E. coli, to aid in the discovery of new antibiotics and biotechnologically beneficial functional genes, and to improve the efficiency of metabolic engineering.
• Through the merger, XenneX stockholders will receive approximately 1,362,589 shares of LifeMap common stock, which will represent approximately 13% of the LifeMap common stock outstanding upon the closing of the transaction.
• XenneX shareholders will also receive approximately 448,430 BioTime common shares as part of the transaction

Separately, LifeMap Sciences announced that it anticipates acquiring a license from Yeda to market the new MalaCards database of human diseases. Like GeneCards and PanDaTox, MalaCards has been developed by the Weizmann Institute and is expected to be launched at the end of 2012.