BioTime and Subsidiary LifeMap Sciences Announce Release of Enhanced ™Portal Offering Additional ™ Human Progenitor Cells Including Those for Diabetes Research
<0> BioTime, Inc.Judith Segall, 510-521-3390 ext. 301orLifeMap Sciences, Inc.Kenneth Elsner, 781-826-7719COO </0>
BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX) and subsidiary, LifeMap Sciences, today announced the release of the enhanced ™ portal () featuring an improved user interface, product descriptions, and customer support options, as well as the addition of new ™ progenitor cells to the site. These novel progenitors provide new and unique tools for researchers to study developmental biology, tissue genesis and regenerative medicine, demonstrating purity in culture and unique gene expression. Among the new product offerings are novel ™ progenitor cells such as the E72 cells capable of differentiating into betatrophin-expressing adipocytes, which may be useful in diabetes research.
Via ™researchers in academia, research hospitals, and biotech and pharma companies can access and purchase BioTime’s research products, including ™ human progenitor cells, ™ packages, clinical and research grade human embryonic stem cell (hES) lines, culture media, and cell differentiation kits. As of April, the portal also offers select recombinant proteins, including growth factors, signaling molecules, differentiation factors, cytokines and chemokines that complement BioTime research product lines.
™ is integrated with LifeMap’s integrated database suite products ™, and s, thereby providing all biomedical researchers accessing these databases a means of identifying stem cell reagents that can enhance research and discovery efforts in a variety of fields, including stem cell research, developmental biology, mechanisms of various human diseases, drug discovery and therapeutic discovery and development. 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 holds an exclusive, worldwide license from Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, to market (), the human gene compendium, and (), a database with nearly 17,000 human disease entries.
“The diversity, purity, and scalability of ™ cells combined with the continued discovery process underway at BioTime, where novel differentiation pathways are being defined, gives us a growing opportunity to market these products in the research sector,” said Jeffrey Janus, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at BioTime. “This is an exciting beginning to a new era in stem cell research. In combination with the LifeMap integrated database suite, our embryonic progenitors will provide researchers a unique new set of products to make novel clinical discoveries and advance the field of regenerative medicine.”
“We are pleased to continue the expansion and enhancement of our e-Commerce portal,” stated Yaron Guan-Golan, Head of Marketing at LifeMap Sciences. “Our growing user base will have improved access to our product portfolio via ™. The addition of ™ human progenitor lines, including cell types targeting the hottest new research in diabetes, will increase ™ brand awareness and the quality of our offering to the global biomedical research community.”
LifeMap Sciences’ () core technology and business is based on its integrated database suite, the discovery platform for biomedical and stem cell research. This platform includes , the leading human gene database; ™, the database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine; and , the human disease database. 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 Sciences also markets , 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 ™ human progenitor cell lines, GMP human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines, ™ growth media for progenitor cell lines, and cell differentiation media for non-therapeutic uses, via its ™ 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 ™, its stem cell database along with the and integrated database suite, to aid in the development of BioTime’s proprietary ™ human progenitor cell lines into products for the treatment of human diseases, especially degenerative diseases that might be treatable with cell replacement therapies. The ™ 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 ™ cell lines, hydrogels, culture media, and differentiation kits. BioTime is developing ™ (formerly known as -), 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 ™ 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 , the leading human gene database, as part of an integrated database suite that also includes the ™ database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine, and , the human disease database. LifeMap Sciences also markets BioTime research products and , an innovative, recently developed, searchable database that can aid in the discovery of new antibiotics and biotechnologically beneficial products. Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a new subsidiary being used to acquire 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. BioTime's lead product, , is a blood plasma volume expander manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by Hospira, Inc. and in South Korea by CJ CheilJedang Corporation under exclusive licensing agreements. Additional information about BioTime can be found on the web at .
Statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development, and potential opportunities for BioTime and its subsidiaries, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of BioTime and its subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in BioTime's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. BioTime disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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