BIOTIME PROVIDES BUSINESS UPDATE including information ON agex, ONCOCYTE and

PROVIDES BUSINESS UPDATE including information ON agex,

ONCOCYTE and ASTERIAS

CA - February 14, 2019 - BioTime, Inc. (NYSE American: BTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused

on degenerative diseases, today provided a business update which included information on AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX)

(NYSE American: AGE) and BioTime's two affiliated companies, OncoCyte Corporation (OncoCyte) (NYSE

American: OCX), and Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Asterias) (NYSE American: AST).

the past five months, BioTime has made rapid progress toward its commitment to become a

leading cell therapy company by focusing on clinical-stage cell therapy product candidates with promising human data and supporting

their development in part through targeted transactions among its affiliated companies," stated Brian M. Culley, Chief Executive

Officer of BioTime, Inc.

early accomplishment was to sell approximately half of our shares of AgeX, which we had created to develop BioTime's

preclinical regenerative medicine assets, to Juvenescence Limited for a total of $43.2 million. Cash payments totaling

$21.6 million were received in 2018 and the remaining $21.6 million, along with interest, is due no later than August 2020, or

may be converted at BioTime's option into Juvenescence common stock if Juvenescence becomes a public company before that

date. Most of the remaining AgeX shares owned by BioTime were then distributed to BioTime shareholders in late November, launching

AgeX as a public company. BioTime has retained an equity position in AgeX Therapeutics of 1.7 million shares, or approximately

5% of AgeX's common stock. As of February 13, 2019, the value of BioTime's AgeX share position was approximately $7.1

next announced an exclusive collaboration with Orbit Biomedical for the use of Orbit's proprietary injection technology

to deliver our lead product candidate OpRegen , for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration. The

Orbit device delivers cells to the sub-retinal space via a suprachoroidal route as opposed to standard of care delivery directly

through the retina. We are moving quickly to enroll our first patient in the Orbit portion of our ongoing Phase I/II study in

the next quarter and we anticipate reporting additional clinical data from the study in the first half of this year."

also intend to close our proposed acquisition of Asterias assuming approval by the respective shareholders of BioTime and Asterias

during the respective shareholders meetings on March 7th, 2019. This acquisition would broaden our pipeline with clinical-stage

cell therapy assets in spinal cord injury and oncology. Last month, Asterias announced top line 12-month data from a Phase I/II

study of its OPC-1 program in severe spinal cord injury, which included early evidence of cell engraftment and improved motor

function in nearly all treated patients. The UK clinical trial of Asterias's off-the-shelf allogeneic immune-oncology

cell therapy product, VAC2, has enrolled four patients to date."

our affiliated company OncoCyte recently reported positive results from an R&D validation

study of DetermaVu , their non-invasive liquid biopsy test intended to facilitate clinical decision making in lung

cancer diagnosis. Following a recently completed $40.25 million public offering by OncoCyte

at a price of $3.75 per share, BioTime owns approximately 14.7 million shares, or approximately 28% of OncoCyte's common

stock. As of February 13, 2019, the value of BioTime's OncoCyte share position was approximately $56.6 million."

are pleased with the continued progress at BioTime. In addition to advancing OpRegen

and the proposed acquisition of Asterias, two public companies, AgeX and OncoCyte,

have been launched with assets which originated from within the BioTime laboratories. Looking ahead, we believe that we are delivering

on our stated plans to streamline BioTime's corporate structure and reduce expenses in a prudent manner, while focusing

on creating value from our most compelling clinical opportunities and selectively converting assets created within BioTime into

cash or other forms of value on attractive terms. We believe that our continued efforts will increase our visibility, support

our growth, and help drive our success in 2019 and beyond," concluded Mr. Culley.

Upcoming BioTime Events

is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment

of degenerative diseases. BioTime's pipeline is based on two platform technologies which encompass cell replacement and

cell/drug delivery. BioTime's lead cell replacement product candidate is OpRegen , a retinal pigment epithelium

transplant therapy in Phase 2 development for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness

in the developed world. BioTime's lead cell delivery clinical program is Renevia , an investigational medical

device being developed as an alternative for whole adipose tissue transfer procedures. BioTime common stock is traded on the NYSE

American and TASE under the symbol BTX. For more information, please visit www.biotimeinc.com or connect with the

company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+. To receive ongoing BioTime corporate

communications, please click on the following link to join the Company's email alert list: http://news.biotimeinc.com.

Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc.

is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing cell-based therapeutics to treat neurological conditions associated with demyelination

and cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer. Asterias is presently focused on advancing three clinical-stage programs which have

the potential to address areas of very high unmet medical need in the fields of neurology and oncology. OPC1 (oligodendrocyte

progenitor cells) is currently in a Phase 1/2a dose escalation clinical trial in spinal cord injury. VAC2 (antigen-presenting

allogeneic dendritic cells) is an allogeneic cancer immunotherapy. Asterias' research partner, Cancer Research UK, has commenced

a first-in-human clinical trial of VAC2 in non-small cell lung cancer. VAC1 (antigen-presenting autologous dendritic cells) is

an autologous cancer immunotherapy with promising efficacy and safety data from an earlier Phase 2 study in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

(AML). Asterias is also sponsoring pre-clinical work in two conditions with a demyelinating component: Multiple Sclerosis and

White Matter Stroke, and is evaluating other cancer indications where its immunotherapy platform could provide therapeutic benefit.

Additional information about Asterias can be found at www.asteriasbiotherapeutics.com.

OncoCyte Corporation

is focused on the development and commercialization of novel, non-invasive blood ("liquid biopsy") diagnostic tests

for the detection of cancer. Oncocyte's diagnostic tests have the potential to improve health outcomes, reduce the cost

of care, and improve patients' quality of life. Liquid biopsy diagnostic tests like those OncoCyte is developing may reduce

the need for costlier and riskier diagnostic procedures such as invasive biopsy procedures. OncoCyte is focusing its efforts on

developing DetermaVu as a non-invasive confirmatory diagnostic test for lung cancer. Additional information about OncoCyte

can be found at www.oncocyte.com.

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc.

is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte

manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly defined, universal, allogeneic,

off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a whole host of diseases with a high unmet

medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1

(brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeX's revolutionary longevity platform named induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR )

aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an

iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeX's delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell

therapies and slowly release iTR molecules in the body. AgeX is aggressively developing its core product pipeline for use in the

clinic to extend human healthspan, and is seeking opportunities to form licensing and partnership agreements around its broad

IP estate and proprietary technology platforms for non-core clinical applications. For more information on AgeX, please visit

www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Information and Where to Find It

communication is being made in respect of the proposed business combination involving BioTime, Inc. and Asterias Biotherapeutics,

Inc. In connection with the proposed transaction, BioTime and Asterias filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

(the "SEC"), including the filing by BioTime of a Registration Statement on Form S-4 containing a Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus.

INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF BIOTIME AND ASTERIAS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE FINAL JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS

AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BY BIOTIME AND ASTERIAS BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.

Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of these documents and other documents filed with the SEC at the SEC's

web site at www.sec.gov and by contacting BioTime Investor Relations at (510) 871-4188 or Asterias Investor Relations at (510)

456-3892. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC on BioTime's website

at www.biotimeinc.com or Asterias' website at www.asteriasbiotherapeutics.com or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

BioTime, Asterias and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies

with respect to the proposed transaction. Information regarding the interests of these directors and executive officers in the

proposed transaction is included in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus described above. Additional information regarding the

directors and executive officers of BioTime is also included in BioTime's proxy statement for its 2018 Annual Meeting of

Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 29, 2018, and additional information regarding the directors and executive

officers of Asterias is also included in Asterias' proxy statement for its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was

filed with the SEC on April 30, 2018, respectively.

Offer or Solicitation

document does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote