Full Press Release Details
Inc. and Hepregen Corporation Form Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc. to
of BioTime's ESI BIO Division and Hepregen to Focus on Next-Generation
Metabolism and Safety Screening of New Drugs and Chemicals
Access to Hepregen's Current Customer Base of Major Pharmaceutical and
Retains Cell Therapy Opportunities While Gaining Entry to Drug
ALAMEDA, Calif. & MEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 6,
2015--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT and TASE: BTX), a clinical-stage
regenerative medicine company, and Hepregen Corporation, a privately
held company engaged in the development and marketing of proprietary
drug screening products, today announced the formation of
Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc. ("Ascendance"). Ascendance combines
Hepregen's application-directed, cellular micro-patterning drug and
chemical screening technologies with BioTime's ESI BIO research products
and proprietary stem cell technologies. This asset combination will
allow Ascendance to offer a broad portfolio of current and new
stem-cell-derived assays and other products and services to Hepregen's
major pharmaceutical and chemical company customers.
Ascendance will continue to market Hepregen's well-known HepatoPac
and HepatoMune micro-patterned liver products, and
plans to develop new and unique cell-based and micro-patterned products
using BioTime's stem cell technologies and broad intellectual property
and product portfolio, including BioTime's PureStem embryonic
progenitors and ESI embryonic stem cells. Ascendance expects that its
first stem cell-based product will be targeted to important testing and
assay applications in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
Ascendance also expects to develop additional stem-cell-derived products
that will be useful for toxicity testing in the cosmetic, environmental,
and food industries.
Ascendance will be led by Hepregen's Chief Executive Officer, Dr.
Vincent R. Zurawski, Jr., a pioneer in the biotechnology industry, who
was a co-founder of Centocor, Inc. Centocor was one of the first
companies to commercialize monoclonal antibodies for diagnostic and
therapeutic use, and was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1999 for more
than $5 billion. Dr. Zurawski stated, "Ascendance will combine
Hepregen's proprietary technology and BioTime's proprietary cell lines
and technology to provide its clients in the pharmaceutical and chemical
industries with an enhanced portfolio of next-generation,
drug-development and safety-testing products and services comprised of
both liver cells and additional cell types. Also, the combination of
Hepregen and BioTime technologies may provide Ascendance with a
potential path to the development of new drug products in collaboration
with biopharma companies."
According to Jeffrey Janus, previously President of BioTime's ESI BIO
division and now President of Ascendance, "The formation of Ascendance
gives BioTime's shareholders a two-fold benefit. It will provide
BioTime's cell-based products with a pathway to the pharmaceutical drug
screening marketplace while providing a new source of revenues through
the sale of the Hepregen line of assay products and new products slated
for development by Ascendance. In addition, BioTime is retaining the
rights to any cell-based therapeutic products generated by clinical
researchers using BioTime's stem cells and hydrogels."
"Forming Ascendance as an independent company responsible for its own
funding, and with its own sales and marketing capabilities, is aligned
with our commitment to focus on therapeutics while allowing BioTime
investors the opportunity to benefit from our extensive portfolio of
technologies and intellectual property. Our ownership of part of
Ascendance will allow our shareholders to benefit from the rapid growth
of the large market for products used in drug efficacy screening and
safety testing," said Adi Mohanty, BioTime's co-Chief Executive Officer.
Detailed financial terms of the transaction, and Hepregen's historical
revenue growth, are not being disclosed at this time. In exchange for
its contribution of certain assets relating to its research products and
related patents and technology, BioTime will acquire a majority equity
position in Ascendance.
BioTime, Inc., a pioneer in regenerative medicine, is a clinical-stage
biotechnology company. BioTime and its subsidiaries are leveraging their
industry-leading experience in pluripotent stem cell technology and a
broad intellectual property portfolio to facilitate the development and
use of cell-based therapies and gene marker-based molecular diagnostics
for major diseases and degenerative conditions for which there presently
are no cures. The lead clinical programs of BioTime and its subsidiaries
include OpRegen , currently in a Phase I/IIa
trial for the treatment of the dry form of age-related macular
degeneration; AST-OPC1, currently in a Phase I/IIa trial for
spinal cord injuries; Renevia , currently in a pivotal trial
in Europe as an injectable matrix for the engraftment of transplanted
cells to treat HIV-related lipoatrophy; and cancer diagnostics, nearing
the completion of initial clinical studies for the detection of lung,
bladder, and breast cancers. AST-VAC2, a cancer vaccine, is
in the pre-clinical trial stage.
BioTime's subsidiaries include the publicly traded Asterias
Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: AST), developing pluripotent stem
cell-based therapies in neurology and oncology, including AST-OPC1 and AST-VAC2; Cell
Cure Neurosciences Ltd., developing stem cell-based therapies for
retinal and neurological disorders, including OpRegen ; OncoCyte
Corporation, developing cancer diagnostics; LifeMap Sciences, Inc.,
developing and marketing an integrated online database resource for
biomedical and stem cell research; LifeMap Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary
of LifeMap Sciences, developing mobile health (mHealth) products; ES
Cell International Pte Ltd, which has developed cGMP-compliant human
embryonic stem cell lines that are being marketed by BioTime for
research purposes under the ESI BIO branding program; OrthoCyte
Corporation, developing therapies to treat orthopedic disorders,
diseases, and injuries; and ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc., developing
therapies to treat a variety of cardiovascular and related ischemic
BioTime common stock is traded on the NYSE MKT and TASE under the symbol
BTX. For more information, please visit www.biotimeinc.com or
connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube,
Hepregen Corporation has been a leader in innovating unique and
proprietary bioengineered micro-liver platforms for use in environmental