Full Press Release Details
Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results and Recent Corporate
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 9, 2015--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE
MKT and TASE:BTX) today reported financial results for the third quarter
ended September 30, 2015 and provided an update on its recent
"During the third quarter, BioTime and its family of companies achieved
significant progress on multiple fronts," said Adi Mohanty, BioTime's
co-Chief Executive Officer. "We are delivering on our commitment to
reduce the complexity of our operations while progressively unlocking
the value of our subsidiaries for BioTime shareholders. An important
step forward in this effort was the announcement that OncoCyte
Corporation, our cancer diagnostics subsidiary, had filed a Form 10
Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for
our planned distribution of OncoCyte common stock to our shareholders.
On the financial front, we strengthened our capital position through the
sale of $34.0 million of BioTime common shares to institutional
investors in September and early October. At the same time, we continued
to advance the clinical development of our products that are aimed at
addressing large unmet patient needs. We also announced several
collaborations with leading medical and academic institutions, as well
as a major corporate partnership to develop bone grafting products. All
the while, we've continued to evolve the management of the company
toward an organization that is structured to support later-stage
clinical trials and commercial products."
"BioTime continues to strengthen its leadership position in regenerative
medicine on many fronts," said Dr. Michael D. West, BioTime's co-Chief
Executive Officer. "During the third quarter, BioTime's ESI-BIO division
launched its new technology platform that provides a more complete and
accurate model to study the effects of drugs and therapeutic compounds
on vascular network formation. The recently announced formation of
Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc. by combining ESI-BIO with Hepregen
Corporation has the potential to offer an enhanced, broad portfolio of
products and services to the rapidly growing and largest segment of the
research product market. Our proprietary PureStem
technology for the production of industrial-scale pure stem cells is the
basis for the collaboration between our subsidiary OrthoCyte Corporation
and Heraeus Medical GmbH for the development of bone grafting therapies.
This collaboration represents validation for our human embryonic
progenitor cell technology as we continue to develop other products
based on PureStem ."
Third Quarter and Recent Highlights
Corporate Developments
On November 5, 2015, BioTime and Hepregen Corporation formed
Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc., a new self-funding company that
combines Hepregen's cellular micro-patterning drug and chemical
screening technologies with BioTime's ESI-BIO research products and
proprietary stem cell technologies.
BioTime's Board of Directors appointed Adi Mohanty to serve with
Michael D. West as co-Chief Executive Officer. Dr. West will lead
BioTime's science, technology development, and intellectual property
activities with a particular focus on growing the Company's discovery
and pre-clinical product development programs. Mr. Mohanty will lead
the Company's advanced clinical development programs and
commercialization strategies, as well as assume leadership of its
corporate and administrative activities. Mr. Mohanty has served as
BioTime's Chief Operating Officer since December 2014.
BioTime raised approximately $34.0 million during the third quarter
and early October through sales of common shares to a select group of
U.S. investors, and certain investment funds in Israel that hold
shares of companies that are included within Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
BioTime's subsidiary OncoCyte Corporation filed a Form 10 Registration
Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for BioTime's
planned distribution of OncoCyte common stock to BioTime common
shareholders. BioTime expects that the distribution will provide
OncoCyte with greater access to capital markets in order to obtain its
own financing for its operations, separately from BioTime financings.
The distribution will also allow BioTime and OncoCyte to each focus on
its own strategic priorities relating to its own management, capital
structure, business model, and financial goals. BioTime's plan is to
effect the distribution to BioTime shareholders in late 2015, subject
to certain conditions. BioTime expects to continue to own a majority
of the outstanding common stock in OncoCyte immediately after the
OncoCyte Corporation appointed Cavan Redmond, former CEO of WebMD
Health Corp. and Group President of Pfizer, as an independent member
of its Board of Directors. Mr. Redmond is a seasoned healthcare
strategist who has held a number of global leadership positions and
has over 25 years of corporate strategy experience.
On November 2, 2015, BioTime's subsidiary Asterias Biotherapeutics,
Inc. (NYSE MKT: AST) announced the appointment of Georgia Erbez as
Chief Financial Officer, effective November 9, 2015. Ms. Erbez is a
seasoned financial executive with experience in the areas of capital
resource development and business development. Previously, Ms. Erbez
served as a financial consultant to numerous biotechnology companies.
Prior to that, she served as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, and
Treasurer of Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp.
BioTime's common shares began trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
(TASE) under the ticker symbol BTX on September 8, 2015. BioTime's
shares were included in six major TASE equity indexes: TA-75, TA-100,
TA-BlueTech, TA-Composite, TA-Tech-Elite, and TA-Biomed. BioTime's
shares will continue to be listed on the NYSE MKT, subject to the
rules and regulations of the NYSE MKT applicable to listed companies.
Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. received Fast Track designation from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for OpRegen
for the treatment of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration
(AMD), a leading cause of blindness in an aging population. The Fast
Track designation confers benefits to a drug sponsor, including more
frequent communication with FDA on the drug development plan, clinical
trial design, potential eligibility for Accelerated Approval and
Priority Review, and a rolling regulatory review. OpRegen
is a cell-based therapeutic product consisting of retinal pigment
epithelial (RPE) cells.