Full Press Release Details
Solutions, Inc. to Develop Mobile Health Products With Mount Sinai's
Icahn School of Medicine
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2014--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE
MKT:BTX) announced today that its subsidiary LifeMap Sciences, Inc., a
technology leader in online biomedical information, has created LifeMap
Solutions, Inc., a medical technology startup focused on creating
innovative mobile health (mHealth) products and services powered by
biomedical and other personal big data. The initial planned product is
envisioned to provide information based on interpretations of one or
more components of clinical data and other information of individuals,
including genetic information if provided, relating to human disease,
LifeMap Solutions will collaborate with the Icahn School of Medicine at
Mount Sinai to develop the new personal mHealth products. While detailed
product plans were not revealed at this time, the company disclosed that
the planned products are interactive mobile applications that will
connect users with their complex personal health information and other
big data. LifeMap Solutions will co-locate core members of its product
development team within Mount Sinai to work alongside research and
development personnel led by Dr. Eric Schadt, Director of the Icahn
Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai. The
primary focus of Mount Sinai in the product development collaboration
will relate to the development of a software engine. LifeMap Solutions
will be responsible for developing the entire technology platform,
including server and client components. However, both parties will
participate in the planning and development of all aspects of the
integrated software system.
The initial financing tranche for LifeMap Solutions will be provided to
LifeMap Sciences by BioTime through the purchase of additional shares of
LifeMap Sciences common stock. BioTime may acquire additional LifeMap
Sciences common stock for cash or in exchange for BioTime common shares
when product development milestones are met and if funding is not
provided through other sources. Additionally, Mount Sinai will defray a
portion of the initial development cost of the project by providing
services of its personnel and use of its facilities at a reduced cost.
"The creation of LifeMap Solutions represents a strategic step along
BioTime's path towards extending LifeMap's leadership in online genomic
and medical information," said Dr. Michael West, CEO of BioTime. "We
share with Dr. Schadt a vision of new products and services designed to
markedly enhance the public's access to big data and to improve quality
Corey Bridges, a Silicon Valley veteran, will serve as LifeMap
Solutions' Chief Executive Officer. Over the past two decades, Mr.
Bridges has overseen the market introductions of several innovative
technology companies, including Netflix, Inc., Zone Labs, and The
Multiverse Network, Inc. A pre-IPO employee at Netscape, he launched
several ground-breaking Internet products internationally, and years
later launched James Cameron's CAMERON | PACE Group in China and Europe.
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
HealthCare Corporation under exclusive licensing agreements.
BioTime is also developing stem cell and other products for research,
therapeutic, and diagnostic use through its subsidiaries:
Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a new subsidiary which has acquired
the stem cell assets of Geron Corporation, including patents and other
intellectual property, biological materials, reagents and equipment for
the development of new therapeutic products for regenerative medicine.
OncoCyte Corporation is developing products and technologies to
diagnose and treat cancer.
Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. ("Cell Cure Neurosciences") is an
Israel-based biotechnology company focused on developing stem cell-based
therapies for retinal and neurological disorders, including the
development of retinal pigment epithelial cells for the treatment of
macular degeneration, and treatments for multiple sclerosis.
LifeMap Sciences, Inc. ("LifeMap Sciences") 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
ES Cell International Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company,
developed clinical and research grade hES cell lines and plans to market
those cell lines and other BioTime research products in over-seas
markets as part of BioTime's ESI BIO Division.
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 cardiovascular and related ischemic disorders, as well as products
for research using cell reprogramming technology.
Additional information about BioTime can be found on the web at www.biotimeinc.com
About LifeMap Sciences, Inc.
LifeMap Sciences' (www.lifemapsc.com) core technology and
business is based on its Integrated Biomedical Knowledgebase and
discovery platform for biomedical research, which currently includes GeneCards ,
the leading human gene database; LifeMap Discovery ,