BioTime announces the completion of the acquisition of ES Cell International Pte

The acquired assets will help accelerate the pace of research and development of medical products

ALAMEDA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BioTime (NYSE Amex: BTIM), a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the areas of human stem cells and regenerative medicine, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of ES Cell International Pte. ESI) from Singapore. ESI, which was established in 2000, is a world leader in the development of technologies based on human embryonic stem cells (hES), and is one of the first distributors of such cell lines to the research community. ESI has filed many initial patent applications in the field of stem cells, and has developed important relationships among the stem cell research community worldwide. Other assets of ESI include a bank with six new lines, at a clinical level, of human embryonic stem cells, which were produced in accordance with the rules of Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP), as well as holdings in the Israeli company Cell Cure Neurosciences, which deals with medical treatments based on stem cells. BioTime anticipates that ESI's assets and team of scientists will help accelerate the pace of development of products for researchers and potential medical treatments, as well as establish new commercial relationships.

ESI operates in Biopolis in Singapore - a world-class center for scientific research and biomedical development in Asia. Leading researchers and pharmaceutical companies from around the world work at the Biopolis center, not only thanks to the laboratory facilities and skilled workers, but also thanks to the proximity to China, India and other fast-growing markets. Singapore has historically served as a regional hub for the distribution of products throughout Asia. In addition to research and manufacturing activities, the ESI facility will also serve as a distribution center for BioTime products sold in Asia.

In transactions with the previous shareholders and debtors of ESI, BioTime acquired all the publicly held shares and debt instruments of ESI, which has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of BioTime. ESI has no significant debts to third parties, and BioTime itself will not be exposed to any new debts as a result of the acquisition. In exchange for all the shares and debts of ESI, it issued to the previous shareholders and debtors of ESI 1,383,400 ordinary shares of BioTime as well as warrant options for the purchase of 300,000 additional ordinary shares at an exercise price of 10 dollars per share. The validity of the BioTime warrant options issued as part of the purchase will expire at the end of four years from the date of their issuance.

"The ESI company is responsible for important achievements in the field of regenerative medicine" said Dr. Michael Dee. West, the president and CEO of BioTime. "We are happy to welcome the ESI scientists who are joining the BioTime company. ESI's cell banks, at a clinical level, will give BioTime a leading manufacturing platform for a wide array of potential medical products for humans, and will allow researchers to accelerate the pace of product development. Together with our subsidiary BioTime Asia, ESI will also promote our activity in the Asian markets. We also look forward to working in collaboration with Cell Cure Neurosciences and promoting the development of their products for the retina and in the field of neuroscience."

"ESI has been a pioneer in stem cell research and development in Singapore, and its technology and assets create a high degree of synergy with BioTime's ACTCellerate and ReCyte technologies," said Sui-yuk Chu, CEO of EDB Investments (EDBI), a leading Singapore investment firm that invests in the biomedical sciences sector worldwide. "Following the deal, ESI's intellectual property and technology will help expand the development of new and exciting products for regenerative medicine and stem cell-based medical treatments at BioTime. We are pleased that BioTime has recognized the advantages of Singapore's infrastructure and business environment and has chosen Singapore as a center for the production and distribution of products throughout Asia. We look forward to fruitful cooperation and accelerating the pace of marketing of the new and important medical products for researchers and patients alike."

Primary cell banks for human embryonic stem cells, at a clinical level
The development of medical products at a clinical level for humans requires high standards of quality control. The detailed procedures that refer to all aspects of manufacturing such products and conducting experiments on them, while maintaining the safety and quality assurance of the products, are called Current Good Manufacturing Practice or cGMP for short. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces cGMP rules in relation to the production of medical products for humans that are intended for use in the US, and almost every country around the world has similar standards for quality control in the production of medical products for humans.

In 2007, ESI announced, for the first time in the world, lines of human embryonic stem cells that were harvested in accordance with cGMP rules. ESI and scientists from Sydney IVF, Australia's leading center for fertility treatments and in vitro fertilization (IVF), also published a scientific report entitled "The Generation of Six Clinical-Grade Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines." (Production of six lines of human embryonic stem cells at clinical level). The document describes the procedures used to document the production of human embryonic stem cell lines at a clinical level that were harvested from human feeder cells obtained from sources approved by the FDA, produced in a licensed factory according to cGMP rules, with the consent of the donors and after medical screening of the donors. Combined with BioTime's ACTCellerate technology, which helps harvest human embryonic stem cell lines with high levels of precision and scalability, BioTime believes that ESI's clinical-grade master cell banks could be used to produce clinical-grade human embryonic cell lines At a high level of precision and quality, above all competition in the industry. BioTime expects that the acquisition of ESI's bank of human embryonic stem cells, at a clinical level, will make it possible to maintain the achievements that the company has recorded in many years of development, and to accelerate the pace of development of stem cells at a clinical level for research purposes and medical products. The products offered by BioTime to researchers are marketed worldwide in partnership with Millipore Corporation.

Intellectual Property
ESI's set of patents includes 20 families of patents that cover various aspects of human embryonic stem cell identification, reproduction, genetic modifications, storage and targeted conversion of human embryonic stem cells into other types of cells (for example, transformation of cells into neuronal progenitor cells, progenitor cells of pancreas or heart muscle cells). Today ESI owns (or holds licenses from others on) over 50 patents registered in different countries, including the USA, UK, Australia, Israel and Singapore. The combination between the existing array of BioTime's intellectual property, and the assets now acquired gives BioTime one of the leading patent arrays in the world in the field of stem cells. BioTime expects that the value of the array of intellectual property will continue to increase over time, with the expansion of the stem cell sector, and will generate significant opportunities for revenue from royalties.

About Cell Cure Neurosciences
ESI owns more than 49 percent of the shares of Cell Cure Neurosciences, an Israeli biotechnology company that focuses on the development of stem cell-based medical treatments for retinal and neurological disorders, including the development of retinal pigment cells for the treatment of age-related retinal degeneration. The other shareholders of Cell Cure Neurosciences include the companies Hadassit Bio-Hazekot and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

background
The term "regenerative medicine" refers to the development of medical treatments that are based on human embryonic stem cells (hES) or on the technology of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). These medical treatments are designed to restore tissues damaged as a result of degenerative diseases. The great interest shown by scientists and the general public in regenerative medicine stems from the ability of hES or iPS cells to transform into cells of all types in the human body. Because of this, many scientists believe that hES and iPS cells have a significant potential to be used as sources of new medical treatments for a series of diseases that currently cannot be cured, such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart failure, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, macular degeneration, hearing loss , liver failure and many other disorders that result from the fact that cells and tissues stop functioning and must be replaced.

Since human embryonic stem cells are harvested from excess human embryos created in the process of in vitro fertilization, their use for research purposes is controversial. However, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) can be created in a non-controversial process - cells from adult humans, such as skin cells, instead of cells from embryos. By changing certain genes in mature cells, they can be turned into iPS cells very similar to hES cells. The development of the products that are based on stem cells at the BioTime company is in pre-clinical stages and before these products can be used for medical treatments in humans, extensive experiments must be conducted for years.

About BioTime Company
BioTime, whose headquarters are located in Alameda, California, is a biotechnology company that focuses on regenerative medicine and products for expanding the volume of blood plasma (Blood plasma volume expanders). BioTime develops and markets products for researchers in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine through its wholly owned subsidiary ) Embryome Sciences. Another subsidiary of BioTime - OncoCyte Corporation - focuses on medical applications of stem cell technology for cancer treatment. BioTime intends to develop in China medical products for the treatment of diseases of the eyes, skin, the musculoskeletal system and blood diseases, including innovative treatments for cancerous tumors that cannot currently be cured, with the help of genetically modified stem cells, through the subsidiary BioTime Asia. In addition to products based on stem cells, BioTime develops products to expand the volume of plasma in the blood, solutions for blood replacement in surgeries performed at low temperature (hypothermia) and technology for use in surgeries, treatment of emergency trauma cases and other applications. BioTime's flagship product - Hextend for expanding blood plasma volume - is manufactured and distributed in the USA by Hospira and in South Korea by CJ CheilJedang under exclusive licensing agreements.

About the company EDB Investments
EDB Investments (EDBI) is a leading investment company headquartered in Singapore and operating worldwide. EDBI invests worldwide in the innovative and dynamic sector of the biomedical sciences as well as in other important industries such as clean-tech and digital media. As a value-added investor, EDBI works in close cooperation with the companies in which it invests, leveraging the extensive networks and experience it has gained to create a bridge to Asia for them and advance their growth strategy.