BioTime Acquires Asterias, Creating Leading Cell Therapy Company

Palo Alto – March 13, 2019 – Cooley advised BioTime on its acquisition of Asterias Biotherapeutics. Partner Tali Sealman led the Cooley team advising BioTime on the transaction. 

In connection with the acquisition, BioTime will advance three clinical stage product candidates for degenerative retinal diseases, neurological conditions associated with demyelination and aiding the body in detecting and combating cancer. 

“This acquisition is a key step in our plan to turn BioTime into a pioneering and leading cell therapy company, with an innovative and diversified pipeline which we believe can significantly impact disease areas with groundbreaking therapeutic approaches,” Brian M. Culley, CEO of BioTime, said in a statement. “Importantly, we expect to enjoy significant financial synergies from this merger, as we already have a [current good manufacturing practice] manufacturing facility in Jerusalem, Israel, which has successfully produced our projected needs for the next clinical trial of OpRegen and which now can turn to process development and scale-up activities for the former Asterias assets.”

Headquartered in Alameda, California, BioTime’s securities trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol “BTX.” 

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