Full Press Release Details
Organizes New ESI BIO Division to Develop, Manufacture and Market the
Company's Cell-Based Research Products
Jeffrey Janus as CEO of ES Cell International Pte Ltd.
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 28, 2013--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE
MKT: BTX) today announced changes to the organization and management of
its research products business. The research products business will be
consolidated into a new ESI BIO Division which shall be BioTime's
primary developer, manufacturer and distributor for its growing
portfolio of stem-cell-based research products. Jeffrey Janus, BioTime's
Vice President of Sales and Marketing, will lead ESI BIO and has also
been appointed as the CEO of BioTime's Singapore-based subsidiary ES
Cell International Pte Ltd. ("ESI Singapore") which will be a part of
the ESI BIO Division. Mr. Janus has over 30 years of experience in the
cell-based biotechnology industry, serving in various executive and
board level positions.
ESI BIO will manufacture and market the ESI human embryonic stem (hES)
cell lines developed by ESI Singapore, PureStem human embryonic
progenitors, HyStem hyaluronan-based
hydrogels, and kits for stem cell differentiation and reprogramming. ESI
BIO also plans to develop additional new PureStem human
embryonic progenitors and HyStem products, and
will work with BioTime's LifeMap Sciences, Inc. subsidiary to develop
and market a new database product. LifeMap Sciences will continue to use
its BioReagents website to market BioTime's PureStem
progenitor cells and reagents and the ESI hES cell lines, as well as any
new research products developed or acquired by the ESI BIO Division.
However, ESI BIO will take on a larger role in managing the LifeMap
BioReagents website. These research products will be designed to assist
researchers in their goals of translating their discoveries to the
clinic, thus facilitating the regulatory pathway for ESI BIO's customers
in their path from research to clinical trials.
ESI Singapore created the world's first "clinical grade" hES cell lines
under conditions designed to be compliant with principles of current
Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), making them suitable for use in
clinical research and regenerative medicine. BioTime acquired ESI
Singapore in May 2010 and has since made ESI Singapore's clinical and
research grade hES cells available to scientists worldwide. ESI
Singapore plans to provide existing PureStem embryonic
progenitor cells along with its clinical-grade hES cells to researchers
in the Pacific Rim nations. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNCz238w4ss).
"Cell-based discoveries with the potential to cure human diseases must
ultimately be acceptable to regulatory agencies. We plan to continue to
expand ESI BIO's historic role in providing products giving scientists
the highest chance that their research results will be translatable to
the clinic," said Mr. Janus. "ESI BIO's human embryonic stem cell lines
and its HyStem hydrogels are available
either as economic research grade products or as clinical grade
products. Its novel PureStem clonally pure embryonic
progenitors form potentially therapeutic tissues not formed by adult
stem cells. These products illustrate ESI BIO's growing platform of
state of-the-art products that are pure, precisely identified, and give
a high level of assurance that cell-based discoveries will be clinically
BioTime's CEO Dr. Michael West stated, "By providing ESI BIO's products
to the research community, we not only have the opportunity to generate
near-term revenues, but we also allow academic researchers to perform
research on the manifold uses of the cells with federal and state
funding. The goal is to establish our research products as industry
standards for a wide array of medical research."
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:
OncoCyte Corporation is developing products and technologies to
diagnose and treat cancer.
ES Cell International Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company,
develops hES products for research use.
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 blood and lymphatic vascular disorders, as well as products for
research using iPS and other cell reprogramming technology.
Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. is an Israel-based biotechnology company
focused on developing stem cell-based therapies for retinal and
neurological degenerative diseases. Its lead product is OpRegen
for the treatment of macular degeneration.
LifeMap Sciences, Inc. 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. LifeMap Sciences
also markets BioTime research products and PanDaTox, an