BioTime to Present Data from OpRegen® Phase I/IIa Clinical Study at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting (ARVO 2019)

ALAMEDA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24BTX&src=ctag" target="_blank"gt;$BTXlt;/agt; lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AMD?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#AMDlt;/agt;–BioTime,
Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: BTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology
company developing new cellular therapies, announced today that updated
results from a Phase I/IIa clinical study of its lead product candidate,
OpRegen^®, a retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell transplant
therapy currently in development for the treatment of dry age-related
macular degeneration (AMD) with geographic atrophy, will be presented at
the 2019
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting
(ARVO 2019), to be held April 28 through May 2, 2019 at the Vancouver
Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The abstract presentation, entitled, “Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial of
Human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC)-Derived Retinal Pigmented Epithelium
(RPE, OpRegen) Transplantation in Advanced Dry Form Age-Related Macular
Degeneration (AMD): Interim Results,” will be presented as part of
the Advances in Retinal Gene Therapy and Stem Cells Session on May 2,
2019 between 10:15 AM and 12:00 PM EDT in Session Number 530 by Eyal
Banin, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Director, Center for Retinal
and Macular Degenerations, Department of Ophthalmology at
Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center (presentation number 6402).
The abstract will provide updated data from patient cohorts 1 through 3
of the study and new data from the ongoing patient cohort 4 in better
vision patients.

In addition, BioTime will present preclinical results from its Vision
Restoration Program, the Company’s proprietary research program focused
on developing technology that allows the generation of three-dimensional
human retinal tissue derived from human pluripotent cells. BioTime’s
three-dimensional retinal tissue technology is being developed to
potentially address a wide range of severe retinal degenerative
conditions (e.g. retinitis pigmentosa and advanced forms of AMD) through
a retinal tissue restoration strategy. In 2017, the Small Business
Innovation Research program of the National Institutes of Health awarded
BioTime a grant of up to $1.56 million to further develop this
innovative, next generation vision restoration program.

• The poster presentation, entitled, “Transplantation of human
  embryonic stem cell derived retinal tissue in the subretinal space of
  immunodeficient rats with retinal degeneration (RD),” will be
  presented as part of the Animal Models for Visual Disease and
  Restoration Session on April 30, 2019 between 8:45am and 10:30am EDT
  in Session Number 332 by Igor Nasonkin, PhD, Principal Investigator,
  Director of Research & Development at BioTime, Inc. (Posterboard
  Number: 3109 – A0500).
• The poster presentation, entitled, “Evaluation of selected Human
  Embryonic Stem Cell Lines for differentiation to three-dimensional
  retinal tissue (organoids) for cell therapies of retinal degenerative
  conditions,” will be presented as part of the Stem Cells and
  Retinal Organoids: Disease Modeling Session on April 30, 2019 between
  8:45am and 10:30am EDT in Session Number 323 by Ratnesh Singh, PhD,
  Senior Scientist at BioTime, Inc. (Posterboard Number: 2873 – A0044).

About OpRegen^®

OpRegen is a retinal pigment epithelium transplant therapy in Phase
I/IIa development for the treatment of dry AMD, the leading cause of
adult blindness in the developed world. OpRegen consists of a
suspension of RPE cells delivered subretinally as an intraocular
injection. RPE cells are essential components of the back lining of the
retina and function to help nourish the retina including photoreceptors.
OpRegen has been granted Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration.

About BioTime, Inc.

BioTime is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing new
cellular therapies for degenerative retinal diseases, neurological
conditions associated with demyelination, and aiding the body in
detecting and combating cancer. BioTime’s programs are based on its
proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated development and
manufacturing capabilities. With this platform BioTime develops and
manufactures specialized, terminally-differentiated human cells from its
pluripotent and progenitor cell starting materials. These differentiated
cells are developed either to replace or support cells that are
dysfunctional or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury,
or administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective immune
response to cancer. BioTime’s clinical assets include (i) OpRegen^®,
a retinal pigment epithelium transplant therapy in Phase I/IIa
development for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration,
the leading cause of blindness in the developed world; (ii) OPC1, an
oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase I/IIa development for
the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; and (iii) VAC2, an
allogeneic cancer immunotherapy of antigen-presenting dendritic cells
currently in Phase I development for the treatment of non-small cell
lung cancer. For more information, please visit www.biotimeinc.com.

Contacts

BioTime Inc. IR
Ioana C. Hone
([email protected])
(510)
871-4188

Solebury Trout IR
Gitanjali Jain Ogawa
([email protected])
(646)
378-2949