BioTime announces acquisition of CTI assets

Jan 29 2011

BioTime, Inc. today announced that it has acquired substantially all the assets of Cell Targeting, Inc. (CTI), a Cleveland, Ohio-based biotechnology company conducting research in regenerative medicine. The technology acquired from CTI uses peptides selected for their ability to adhere to diseased tissues. By coating or "painting" these peptides onto the surfaces of therapeutic cells using techniques that do not modify the cell physiology, CTI has produced tissue-specific and disease-specific cell modification agents with potential to take cell therapy products to a new level of performance. BioTime issued 261,959 common shares and paid $250,000 in cash to acquire the CTI assets.

The acquired technology includes technology patented by CTI and an exclusive license to use technology invented by Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti's group at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (SBMRI) for use in cell therapy. The phage display peptide technology licensed from SBMRI holds promise for use in directing human cells derived from embryonic stem (hES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to sites in the body where they can have therapeutic effect. BioTime will initially provide this technology to its majority owned subsidiary OncoCyte Corporation, for its R&D related to genetically modified hES-derived vascular progenitors designed to target and destroy malignant tumors.

OncoCyte was formed in early 2009 to develop genetically modified stem cells capable of finding malignant tumors while carrying genes that can cause the destruction of the cancer cells. Since then, it has received $4.0 million in equity financing from private investors.

"Our acquisition of the assets of CTI is indicative of our plan to assemble a core of stem cell and related manufacturing technologies capable of enabling our development of a wide array of therapeutic products in the emerging field of regenerative medicine," said Michael D. West, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of BioTime, Inc. "We look forward to advancing Dr. Ruoslahti's technology and welcome Dr. Joseph Wagner to the BioTime team."

Dr. Joseph Wagner, Cell Targeting's President and Chief Technology Officer, will become the Chief Executive Officer of OncoCyte. Dr. Wagner served as the Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Research and Development at Cell Targeting, Inc. for two years. He was responsible for all corporate functions including all R&D, Finance and Corporate Development. Prior to joining CTI, Dr. Wagner held positions of increasing responsibility at Neuronyx, Inc. including Vice President of Cellular Therapy. In that role, he was instrumental in filing the first Investigational New Drug application for an early stage cell therapy company. Dr. Wagner was also an Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute, where his research focused on molecular and cellular approaches to brain development and regeneration. Dr. Wagner received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Duke University.