Full Press Release Details
Biotherapeutics, Inc., a Subsidiary of BioTime, Inc., Leases Facilities
for Expanded Product Development and Manufacturing
MENLO PARK, Calif. & ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 2,
2014--Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. and BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX)
today announced that Asterias has executed a long term lease for a
research, development and manufacturing facility to house all of its
cell therapy product development activities. Located at 6300 Dumbarton
Circle, Fremont, California, the leased facility contains approximately
44,000 square feet of existing office, laboratory and vivarium space.
The lease commencement date is expected to be October 1, 2014 and is for
an eight (8) year term with two five (5) year extension options.
Under the lease, the landlord will provide Asterias with a $4.4 million
tenant improvement allowance that Asterias plans to use to construct a
production facility in the leased premises designed to satisfy
requirements for both US and European current good manufacturing
practices (cGMP) for the production of cell banks and Asterias drug
product candidates. Construction of the manufacturing facility is
expected to begin by the second quarter of 2014.
Asterias began formal product development activities in its current
location in Menlo Park, California during October of 2013 after the
closing of an Asset Contribution Agreement with Geron Corporation and
BioTime, Inc., pursuant to which Asterias acquired Geron's human
embryonic stem cell assets, as well as rights to use certain human
embryonic stem cell lines, minority stakes in two of BioTime's
subsidiaries and stock from BioTime. The Asterias product development
portfolio includes two clinical programs - neural progenitors cells,
currently under clinical development for spinal cord injury, and
dendritic cells targeting telomerase, currently under clinical
development for cancer. The Company's preclinical portfolio includes
chondrocytes for osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease, and
cardiomyocytes for heart failure.
Asterias Biotherapeutics is a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc., whose mission
is to acquire and develop best in class cell therapy product candidates.
Our first acquisition was the stem cell assets of Geron Corporation,
which was completed on October 1, 2013. That acquisition includes
Geron's entire cell therapy intellectual property portfolio, existing
contracts and license agreements related to their stem cell programs,
INDs for OPC1 and VAC1 cell therapies, master cell banks of hESCs and
therapeutic cells manufactured under cGMP, research cell banks,
customized reagents and equipment, and banks of cGMP-manufactured OPC1
drug product used in Geron's Phase 1 trial in spinal cord injury, the
world's first human clinical trial of hESC-derived cells.
Asterias has acquired four cell lines, each with animal proof of
concept, from which multiple therapeutic product candidates may be
selected for development indications in the fields of neurology
(including OPC1 for spinal cord injury), oncology (including VAC1
autologous dendritric cells), orthopedics, and cardiovascular therapy.
Asterias Biotherapeutics will be part of the BioTime family of companies
that now own a large and diverse stem cell patent portfolio, as well as
a unique collection of cGMP-manufactured therapeutic cells and validated
cell banks, placing it among today's leaders in regenerative medicine.
BioTime is a biotechnology company engaged in research and product
development in the field of regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine
refers to therapies based on stem cell technology that are designed to
rebuild cell and tissue function lost due to degenerative disease or
injury. BioTime's focus is on pluripotent stem cell technology based on
human embryonic stem ("hES") cells and induced pluripotent stem ("iPS")
cells. hES and iPS cells provide a means of manufacturing every cell
type in the human body and therefore show considerable promise for the
development of a number of new therapeutic products. BioTime's
therapeutic and research products include a wide array of proprietary
PureStem progenitors, HyStem hydrogels, culture media, and
differentiation kits. BioTime is developing Renevia (a HyStem product)
as a biocompatible, implantable hyaluronan and collagen-based matrix for
cell delivery in human clinical applications. In addition, BioTime has
developed Hextend , a blood plasma volume expander for use in surgery,
emergency trauma treatment and other applications. Hextend is
manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by Hospira, Inc. and in South
Korea by CJ CheilJedang Corporation under exclusive licensing agreements.
BioTime is also developing stem cell and other products for research,
therapeutic, and diagnostic use through its subsidiaries:
Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a new subsidiary which has acquired
the stem cell assets of Geron Corporation, including patents and other
intellectual property, biological materials, reagents and equipment
for the development of new therapeutic products for regenerative
OncoCyte Corporation is developing products and technologies to
diagnose and treat cancer.
Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. ("Cell Cure Neurosciences") is an
Israel-based biotechnology company focused on developing stem
cell-based therapies for retinal and neurological disorders, including
the development of retinal pigment epithelial cells for the treatment
of macular degeneration, and treatments for multiple sclerosis.
LifeMap Sciences, Inc. ("LifeMap Sciences") markets, sells and
distributes GeneCards , the leading human gene database, as part of an
integrated database suite that also includes the LifeMap Discovery
database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative
medicine, and MalaCards, the human disease database.
ES Cell International Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company,
developed clinical and research grade hES cell lines and may plans to
market those cell lines and other BioTime research products in
over-seas markets as part of BioTime's ESI BIO Division.
BioTime Asia, Limited, a Hong Kong company, may offer and sell
products for research use for BioTime's ESI BIO Division.
OrthoCyte Corporation is developing therapies to treat orthopedic
disorders, diseases and injuries.
ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc. is developing therapies to treat a variety
of cardiovascular and related ischemic disorders, as well as products
for research using cell reprogramming technology.
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