Full Press Release Details
Sciences, a Subsidiary of BioTime, Reports Its Databases Currently
Utilized by an Estimated Two Million Unique Visitors Annually according
describes new product plans aimed at further monetizing these assets -
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 11, 2013--LifeMap Sciences,
Inc., a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT:BTX), announced today that
according to Google Analytics, the Company's databases have attracted
over two million unique visitors in the previous 12 months. Since the
announcement of the acquisition of Xennex in May 2012, LifeMap launched LifeMap
Discovery , a database resource for stem cell research, and MalaCards,
a database with nearly 17,000 human disease entries. These assets,
combined with GeneCards , a compendium of human
genes, provide an integrated database suite with diverse commercial
opportunities in science and medicine. LifeMap Sciences holds the
exclusive worldwide license to market GeneCards
and MalaCards from Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd.,
the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science. LifeMap
Discovery is a database owned and developed by LifeMap
Sciences. In this update, LifeMap describes the nature of its current
users, and outlines for the first time its goals for 2013 in marketing
products to this user base.
According to Google Analytics, the sites have generated more than
2,000,000 unique visitors with more than 13,000,000 page views in the
past 12 months. LifeMap clients and partners include dozens of large,
fee-paying pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as
leading government patent offices, and its products are used free of
charge by scientists at more than a thousand academic institutions
LifeMap achievements since the last update include:
Oct 2012 - Commercial launch of MalaCards
Nov 2012 - Commercial launch of LifeMap Discovery
Nov 2012 - Release of GeneCards version
Nov 2012 - Launch of LifeMap BioReagents portal to
market BioTime's research products
Nov 2012 - Signing of definitive agreement with ProSpec-Tany
TechnoGene, a biotechnology company specializing in production of
bacterial-derived recombinant proteins, through which LifeMap Sciences
will be offering recombinant proteins, many of which are related to
Nov 2012 - Filing for patent protection of first intellectual property
generated from LifeMap's data-mining technology
Dec 2012 - First shared publication with BioTime in the peer-reviewed
journal Regenerative Medicine
Jan 2013 - Publication in the peer-reviewed journal Bioinformatics
of a research report describing a non-redundant compendium of human
non-coding RNA, authored by GeneCards
scientists under the supervision of Professor Doron Lancet from the
Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science
Feb 2013 - Release of MalaCards version 1.03
Key goals for 2013 include:
Expansion of LifeMap Discovery to incorporate additional
cell and tissue types and associated gene expression signatures
Initiation of development of additional databases and services that
will leverage significant and growing web traffic
Submission of manuscripts to peer-reviewed scientific journals for
Initiation of pay-per-view access to extensive microarray data on more
than a 100 cultured somatic cell types and on approximately 100 PureStem
cell lines under several thousand differentiation conditions and their
relationship to the developing human
Platform enhancement of GeneCards to enable
improved data update and data mining, and development of applications
for integrating GeneCards and MalaCards
data with next-generation sequencing reports
Addition of new products for stem cell researchers to the LifeMap
BioReagents e-commerce portal
Enhanced therapeutic discovery collaboration with BioTime and
generation of several therapeutic product leads based on PureStem
human stem-cell derived progenitors
"In recognition of the large and growing number of life sciences and
medical professionals using our database suite, we plan to roll out a
series of additional resources that will include subscription and
pay-for-use products. We will continue our support of academic
researchers with free products to meet their career and research needs,"
said David Warshawsky, PhD, CEO of LifeMap. "By leveraging our leading
resources and large user base, we look forward to realizing LifeMap's
potential for significant revenue growth."
"We are witnessing the unification of the fields of genomics, cell
biology, and medicine," said Michael West, PhD, CEO of BioTime and Chief
Scientific Officer of LifeMap. "As a result, professionals in one field
increasingly require instant access to large amounts of data from the
other fields. LifeMap is fulfilling BioTime's strategic goals, on the
one hand by generating near-term revenue to balance the longer-term
nature of our cell-based therapies, and on the other by building
foundational tools integral to the future of medicine."
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 internet 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.