Full Press Release Details
Sciences, a Subsidiary of BioTime, Inc., Launches LifeMap
Database of Human Cellular Life for the Field of Regenerative Medicine
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 27, 2012--LifeMap Sciences,
Inc., a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX), announced today the
launch of LifeMap Discovery (discovery.lifemapsc.com), a
state-of-the-art roadmap of embryonic development and stem cell biology.
The platform integrates embryonic development and stem cell biology with
molecular, cellular, anatomical, and disease-related information, and
provides data-mining capabilities and bioinformatics applications. LifeMap
Discovery is a unique and powerful tool for research and
discovery in multiple disciplines, including stem cell biology,
developmental biology, disease mechanisms and etiology, and drug and
therapeutic discovery and development. This new and innovative database
is a central element in LifeMap's discovery platform for biomedical and
stem cell research, which also includes GeneCards ,
the leading human gene database, and MalaCards, the human disease
The launch of LifeMap Discovery represents a key milestone for LifeMap
Sciences. The platform is a central element in the generation of
near-term revenues through paid subscriptions, and is expected to drive
traffic to the recently launched LifeMap BioReagents
marketing portal, as well as aid in the company's therapeutic discovery
Near-term subscription revenues from pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies
Like GeneCards and MalaCards, LifeMap
Sciences is making certain aspects of LifeMap Discovery
free for use to stem cell researchers at academic non-profit
organizations. Other institutions, including pharmaceuticals and
biotechnology companies, are offered access through paid subscriptions
Near-term revenues via research reagent sales through the LifeMap
The LifeMap integrated database suite is expected to drive traffic to
LifeMap Sciences' LifeMap BioReagents portal,
providing hundreds of thousands of biomedical researchers who access
these databases a means of identifying research reagents that can
enhance their research and discovery efforts. These databases currently
feature targeted links to the various BioTime PureStem
human progenitor cell lines, PureStem packages, and
clinical- and research-grade human embryonic stem cell lines. Starting
in early 2013, additional links will be provided to other research
products that are complementary to the BioTime stem cell products, which
will be available from LifeMap BioReagents . With access to
the databases, researchers can become familiar with, and purchase,
products that relate directly to the types of genes, cells, or diseases
that they are investigating.
Therapeutic discovery efforts
In addition to the generation of near-term revenues from subscriptions
and sales of research products, LifeMap Sciences' scientific team is
utilizing LifeMap Discovery to research and identify PureStem
human progenitor cell lines (also known as ACTCellerate
lines) likely to be useful in the research and development of cell-based
regenerative medicine therapies for a wide range of diseases. Once
identified, selected cell lines will be marketed by LifeMap Sciences for
research purposes via the recently launched LifeMap BioReagents
portal, and these unique lines may eventually be advanced to therapeutic
development by BioTime and/or LifeMap Sciences.
"The launch of the LifeMap Discovery database is a
significant milestone in the emerging field of regenerative medicine and
a tribute to the tireless efforts of the scientific and development
teams at LifeMap Sciences," said Michael D. West, PhD, President and
Chief Executive Officer of BioTime. "The power of embryonic stem cells
to transform into all of the cell types in the human body is at once
both their greatest opportunity and challenge. Many of the degenerative
diseases afflicting our aging population are caused by a lack of
functional cells capable of regenerating particular tissues in the body.
Until recently, the field has suffered from the lack of a "roadmap"
directing scientists through the many hundreds of branch points in the
stems of the tree of human cellular life. Together with GeneCards
and MalaCards, LifeMap Discovery provides the
beginning of an online directory that may help us see the day when
lifesaving stem cell-based therapies reach the people so desperately in
A video describing some of the features of LifeMap Discovery
is available for online viewing at http://www.biotimeinc.com.
"Over the past 18 months, our multidisciplinary team has put forth
tremendous effort to design and build an integrated, cutting-edge
database of embryonic development, stem cell research, and regenerative
medicine, tying together molecular, cellular, anatomical, and
disease-related information into one user-friendly database," said David
Warshawsky, PhD, LifeMap Sciences' Chief Executive Officer. "We expect LifeMap
Discovery to have a profound effect on the ability of
researchers in academia and industry worldwide to advance research in
the stem cell field, and in other biomedical fields, and to advance the
ability to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic products and
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, BioTime plans to make LifeMap
Sciences BioTime's principal marketing subsidiary for research products,
including PureStem human progenitor cell lines, GMP human
embryonic stem (hES) cell lines, growth media for progenitor cell lines,
and cell differentiation kits, for non-therapeutic uses, via its LifeMap
BioReagents portal. LifeMap Sciences will utilize 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.