Full Press Release Details
Sciences, a Subsidiary of BioTime, Inc., Announces the Release of MalaCards
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 9, 2013--LifeMap Sciences,
Inc., a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX), announced today the
release of MalaCards version 1.02 on January 7. The new release
is available at www.malacards.org. MalaCards is a new
database of human diseases and their annotations that is modeled on the
architecture and richness of the popular GeneCards
database of human genes. LifeMap Sciences holds the exclusive worldwide
license to market MalaCards and GeneCards
from Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., the commercial arm of
the Weizmann Institute of Science. MalaCards contains
computerized "cards" classifying information relating to a wide array of
human diseases. This novel research tool will aid researchers in
studying the roles of genes and cells in disease processes. MalaCards
and GeneCards were developed, and are
continuously enhanced by ongoing research, by the bioinformatics team at
the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of
Science in Israel, with Professor Doron Lancet, head of the Crown Human
Genome Center, and team leader Marilyn Safran.
The recent release includes enhanced ontology-based accounts of
drug-disease associations, considerably improved portrayal of
inter-disease relationships, including graphical representation of
disease networks, MalaCards-unique disease summaries and the
augmentation of anatomical context and related stem-cell-based
therapeutic approaches.
"This new release further underlines how enhanced data resource
integration can lead to a considerably improved research tool," said
Professor Doron Lancet, Ph.D., head of the Crown Human Genome Center at
the Weizmann Institute of Science.
"MalaCards version 1.02 offers significant improvements for
our academic and commercial users," stated Yaron Guan-Golan, LifeMap
Sciences' Head of Marketing. "The introduction of industry standard
identifiers like ICD9 and MeSh will significantly improve enterprise
integration and data mining capabilities. Coupled with our new data
sources, including LifeMap Sciences' own LifeMap Discovery , we
believe that MalaCards is becoming an essential companion for
disease researchers worldwide."
About LifeMap Sciences, Inc.
LifeMap Sciences' (www.lifemapsc.com) core technology and
business is based on its integrated database suite, the discovery
platform for biomedical and stem-cell research. This platform includes GeneCards ,
the leading human gene database; LifeMap Discovery , the
database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative
medicine; and MalaCards, the human disease database. LifeMap
Sciences also markets PanDaTox, an innovative, recently
developed, searchable database that can aid in the discovery of new
antibiotics and biotechnologically beneficial products.
In addition to database offerings, LifeMap Sciences is BioTime's
principal marketing subsidiary for research products, including PureStem
human progenitor cell lines, GMP human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines, ESpan
growth media for progenitor cell lines, and cell differentiation media
for non-therapeutic uses, via its LifeMap BioReagents portal.
LifeMap Sciences utilizes its databases as part of its online marketing
strategy to reach life sciences researchers at biotech and
pharmaceutical companies and at academic institutions and research
hospitals worldwide.
In a therapeutic discovery collaboration with BioTime, LifeMap's
scientists utilize LifeMap's proprietary platform, including LifeMap
Discovery , its stem cell database along with the GeneCards
and MalaCards integrated database suite, to aid in the
development of BioTime's proprietary PureStem human
progenitor cell lines into products for the treatment of human diseases,
especially degenerative diseases that might be treatable with cell
replacement therapies. The LifeMap Discovery platform will be
used to select the progenitor cell lines that are most likely to be
useful in developing cell-based regenerative medicine therapies for a
wide range of diseases.
BioTime, headquartered in Alameda, California, is a biotechnology
company focused on regenerative medicine and blood plasma volume
expanders. Its broad platform of stem cell technologies is enhanced
through subsidiaries focused on specific fields of application. BioTime
develops and markets research products in the fields of stem cells and
regenerative medicine, including a wide array of proprietary PureStem
cell lines, HyStem hydrogels, culture media, and
differentiation kits. BioTime is developing Renevia (formerly
known as HyStem -Rx), a biocompatible,
implantable hyaluronan and collagen-based matrix for cell delivery in
human clinical applications. BioTime's therapeutic product development
strategy is pursued through subsidiaries that focus on specific organ
systems and related diseases for which there is a high unmet medical
need. BioTime's majority owned subsidiary Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd.
is developing therapeutic products derived from stem cells for the
treatment of retinal and neural degenerative diseases. BioTime's
subsidiary OrthoCyte Corporation is developing therapeutic applications
of stem cells to treat orthopedic diseases and injuries. Another
subsidiary, OncoCyte Corporation, focuses on the diagnostic and
therapeutic applications of stem cell technology in cancer, including
the diagnostic product PanC-Dx currently being developed for the
detection of cancer in blood samples. ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc. is
developing applications of BioTime's proprietary induced pluripotent
stem cell technology to reverse the developmental aging of human cells
to treat cardiovascular and blood cell diseases. BioTime's subsidiary
LifeMap Sciences, Inc. markets GeneCards , the
leading human gene database, and is developing an integrated database
suite to complement GeneCards that will also
include the LifeMap Discovery database of embryonic development,
stem cell research and regenerative medicine, and MalaCards, the
human disease database. LifeMap will also market BioTime research
products. BioTime Acquisition Corporation ("BAC") is a subsidiary being
used to acquire the stem cell assets of Geron Corporation, including