Full Press Release Details
Announces Issuance of 14 Patents in the Fields of Regenerative Medicine,
and Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy
issued patents add to existing estate of over 600 patents and patent
applications worldwide in the emerging field of pluripotent stem cell
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 2014--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE
MKT:BTX) announced today the issuance of 14 new patents to BioTime and
its subsidiary companies. The patents issued in Australia, Canada,
China, Japan, and the United States, cover a wide range of core
technologies foundational to BioTime's businesses. The new patents add
to the largest known patent estate under one corporate umbrella in the
field of pluripotent stem cell technology known as "regenerative
medicine" with over 600 existing patents and patent applications owned
or licensed to BioTime and its subsidiaries worldwide.
"As a biotechnology company, our intellectual property portfolio is an
important asset that supports our product development programs and
drives value in our business transactions," said Dr. Michael D. West,
Ph.D., BioTime's Chief Executive Officer. "The new patents are expected
to contribute to shareholder value for BioTime generally, for our
corporate partners, and for our individual subsidiary businesses that
are focused on applying our platform technologies to specific medical
applications. These patents also provide BioTime with new opportunities
to partner critical stem cell technologies with companies developing and
commercializing advanced technologies in the regenerative medicine
BioTime is a leader in the emerging field of regenerative medicine whose
foundation is based on pluripotent stem cell technology. Its current
leadership position is in part based on the early nature of the research
performed by its inventors. Scientists at BioTime, and its subsidiary
Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. previously led the world in isolation of
the first human pluripotent stem cells known as human embryonic stem
cells. These first-in-class intellectual property assets originally
built at Geron Corporation are now being developed within Asterias.
Being the first company in the world to have access to these cells, our
scientists and our collaborators were able to file numerous broad
foundational patents in the field such as US patent number 8,637,311
described herein which claims human embryonic stem cells cultured on a
matrix free of feeder cells wherein the stem cells are genetically
In competition with Geron, the Singapore-based company ES Cell
International and Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd also built key assets and
were later acquired as subsidiaries of BioTime. In addition, after
leaving Geron in 1998, Dr. West led the competing company Advanced Cell
Technology from 1998-2005 and after coming to BioTime he licensed
certain other key patent applications from ACT. These included
compositions and methods for deriving more than 200 purified lineages of
cells, a technology known as "PureStem "
(US Patent number 8,685,386) as well as US Patent number 8,753,884 which
describes an important and broad pathway of making all human cell types
without ever creating or using human embryonic or induced pluripotent
Pluripotent stem cells are capable for the first time in the history of
medicine of becoming all the cell types of the human body. The unlimited
replicative capacity of pluripotent stem cells also allows for the first
time, the production of master cell banks of the stem cells from which
any human cell type can be manufactured in limitless quantities. This
power to make the hundreds of cell types that comprise the human body
combine with the massive scalability of the manufacturing platform,
together leads to the interest the scientific and pharmaceutical
communities have in using the technology to manufacture cells, instead
of drugs, that can be used to regenerate tissues impaired by injury or
degenerative disease. The rapid rise in age-related degenerative
diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, arthritis, coronary
disease, Parkinson's, and stroke, to name a few, make regenerative
medicine one of the most anticipated new technologies for the future of
New Patents Owned by BioTime or one of its subsidiaries:
United States patent 8,685,386 - This patent is based on
work performed at BioTime on the PureStem cell
lines capable of becoming cell types useful in the repair of cartilage
and bone. The claims cover certain PureStem cell
types as well as certain products made from them used in patients.
Titled "Methods and Compositions for In Vitro and In Vivo
Chondrogenesis," this patent is one of numerous patents useful to
BioTime's subsidiary OrthoCyte Corporation.
United States patent 8,728,457 - Methods of inducing the
differentiation of embryonic stem cells into mesodermal cells (one of
the three major branches of cell types in the human body that includes
heart muscle and blood vessel cells) by contacting the stem cells with
certain cells from one of the other major branches of cells (such as the
endoderm or ectoderm). The patent relates to methods of making
cardiomyocytes and vascular endothelial cells and is therefore useful
for BioTime's subsidiary ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc.
United States patent 8,637,311 - The claims in this patent
related to human embryonic stem cells that are cultured on extracellular
matrix free of feeder cells and that are genetically modified.
Australia patent 2012203810 - Methods and Compositions for the
Treatment and Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer. The patent relates to methods
of detecting bladder cancer by contacting a sample from a subject with
agents that bind certain proprietary markers expressed in patients with
bladder cancer. The patent is useful for BioTime's subsidiary OncoCyte
Corporation for its cancer diagnostic product development.
Australia patent 2010200610 - The claims in this patent relate to
cell cultures comprising endoderm cells, one of the three major lineages
of cells that make up the human body. In particular, endoderm cells make
cells of internal organs such as the lung, pancreas, and liver as well
as other internal cell types.
Canada patent 2,459,957 - This patent contains claims
related to the feeder-free culture of pluripotent stem cells wherein the
stem cells are grown on an extracellular matrix and stimulated to grow
with a fibroblast growth factor. In addition, the patent contains
additional claims such as to genetically-modified pluripotent stem cells
grown on such feeder-free conditions.
China patent 1543500B - The claims of this patent relate to
heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) produced under certain conditions