BioTime Announces Issuance of 14 New Patents in the Fields of Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cell Technology, and Cancer Therapy ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Announces Issuance of 14 New Patents in the Fields of Regenerative

Medicine, Stem Cell Technology, and Cancer Therapy

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 26, 2015--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE

MKT: BTX) announced today the issuance of 14 new patents covering a wide

range of the core technologies of BioTime and its subsidiaries Asterias

Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: AST), OrthoCyte Corporation, ES Cell

International Pte Ltd, OncoCyte Corporation, and ReCyte Therapeutics,

Inc. The new patents issued over Q3 and Q4 of 2014 add to the BioTime

family of companies' patent estate of over 600 patents and patent

applications pending worldwide, which is the largest known patent estate

in the field of pluripotent stem cell technology for human therapeutic

application, an emerging field known as "regenerative medicine."

Pluripotent stem cells are cells capable of indefinite expansion and

then differentiation into any and all of the cell types of the human

body. Examples of pluripotent stem cells are human embryonic stem cells

("hES") and induced pluripotent stem ("iPS") cells. These stem cells

potentially offer a new technology platform for the manufacture of a

wide array of cell types designed to be transplanted into the body to

restore healthy tissue function.

"BioTime and its subsidiaries are focused on developing and

commercializing a broad portfolio of innovative cellular therapeutics

and diagnostic products, while also continuing to build value in other

ways, such as through the addition of new patents to our

industry-leading intellectual property estate," said Dr. Michael D.

West, Ph.D., BioTime's Chief Executive Officer. "We are making

significant strides in patenting our core platform of pluripotent stem

cell technology and strengthening our competitive position in

regenerative medicine. For the first time in history, pluripotent stem

cells offer a means of manufacturing previously rare and valuable human

cell types in a cost-effective manner and on an industrial scale. We

plan to utilize our strengthened patent position to drive value for our

shareholders as the field of regenerative medicine begins to address the

large and growing markets associated with chronic and age-related

degenerative disease."

New Patents Owned by BioTime or one of its subsidiaries:

European patent 1809739 - This issued patent claims cell culture

media for the proliferation and scale-up of hES cells. The patent

issuing in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Sweden

provides a propagation medium for culturing hES cells in the laboratory

such that the cells proliferate without differentiating as defined

in the claims. The technology allows the user to rapidly produce

high-quality embryonic stem cells for use in therapy and drug discovery,

in a cost-effective and controlled manner, from defined or commercially

available reagents. The patent is therefore useful for manufacturing

products from hES cells. Patents in the same family have previously

issued in the United States, Australia, UK, Israel, Singapore and Hong

Kong, with additional applications pending.

Canada patent 2559854 and China patent ZL200580008779.0 - These

patents claim a differentiation method for making high purity heart

muscle preparations from pluripotent stem cells such as hES cells

suitable for use in regenerative medicine. The issued claims cover

methods wherein the pluripotent stem cells are treated with specific

growth factors and differentiation conditions to manufacture beating

heart muscle cells. The patents are therefore useful in the manufacture

and commercialization of heart muscle cells for research, for the

testing of drugs on the heart, and potentially for regenerating heart

muscle following a heart attack or heart failure. Patents in the same

family have previously issued in the United States, Australia, UK,

Israel, Japan and Singapore, with additional applications pending.

South Korea patent 1543500B - The patent titled,

"Hematopoietic Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells," claims methods

for using pluripotent stem cell technology for inducing immune tolerance

of cells transplanted into a patient (that is, in helping to prevent the

rejection of transplanted cells). As such, the patent claims may be

useful in commercializing diverse types of transplantable cells. Patents

in the same family have previously issued in Australia, UK, Israel,

Japan and Singapore, with additional applications pending.

Canada patent 2468335 - The patent describes

cartilage-forming cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells such

as hES cells. The claims in the patent relate to a system of making the

cartilage-forming cells using factors of the transforming growth factor

beta (TGF-beta) family, of immortalizing the cells with the human

telomerase gene, pharmaceutical formulations of the cells for

therapeutic use in arthritis, as well as other claims. The patent is

therefore useful for the manufacture of such cells for use in research

and potentially in therapy for a number of applications in orthopedic

medicine. Patents in the same family have previously issued in the

United States, Australia, Singapore, Israel and South Korea, with

additional applications pending.

Israel patent 208116 - The patent titled, "Differentiation

of Primate Pluripotent Stem Cells to Hematopoietic Lineage Cells,"

claims methods for the manufacture of dendritic cells from primate

pluripotent stem cells. Dendritic cells are cells that trigger an immune

response to a particular molecule. Often their role is to stimulate the

immune system to attack microorganisms such as bacteria. BioTime's

subsidiary Asterias Biotherapeutics is developing hES cell-derived

dendritic cells modified to trigger an immune response to specific

antigens related to cancer. A patent in the same family has previously

issued in the United States, with additional applications pending.

Singapore patent 188098 - The patent titled, "Synthetic Surfaces

for Culturing Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes," claims certain polymers

upon which heart muscle cells derived from pluripotent stem cells may be

cultured. The patent is potentially useful for the manufacture of human

heart muscle cells for drug screening and toxicity testing and for use

in the manufacture of such cells for transplantation into human subjects

for the treatment of heart disease. A patent in the same family has

previously issued in the United States, with additional applications

Singapore patent 176957 - The patent titled, "Differentiated

Pluripotent Stem Cell Progeny Depleted of Extraneous Phenotypes," claims

methods for the purification of pluripotent stem cell-derived