BioTime and Hepregen Form New Company to Address In-Vitro Cell Biology Market

BioTime Inc. and Hepregen Corporation have jointly formed a new company to address the in-vitro cell biology market: Ascendance Biotechnology Inc. The companies, based in Alameda, Calif. and Medford, Mass. respectively, hope to provide a broad portfolio of current and new stem-cell-derived assays and other products and services to Hepregen’s major pharmaceutical and chemical company customers through Ascendance. Ascendance combines Hepregen’s application-directed, cellular micro-patterning drug and chemical screening technologies with BioTime’s ESI BIO research products and proprietary stem cell technologies.

Ascendance will continue to market Hepregen’s Hepatopac and Hepatomune micro-patterned liver products, and plans to develop new and unique cell-based and micro-patterned products using BioTime’s stem cell technologies and broad intellectual property and product portfolio, including BioTime’s Purestem embryonic progenitors and ESI embryonic stem cells. Ascendance expects that its first stem cell-based product will be targeted to important testing and assay applications in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Ascendance also expects to develop additional stem-cell-derived products that will be useful for toxicity testing in the cosmetic, environmental, and food industries.

Ascendance will be led by Hepregen’s CEO, Vincent R. Zurawski, Jr., Ph.D., a pioneer in the biotechnology industry, who was a co-founder of Centocor Inc. Centocor was one of the first companies to commercialize monoclonal antibodies for diagnostic and therapeutic use, and was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1999 for more than $5 billion.

“Ascendance will combine Hepregen’s proprietary technology and BioTime’s proprietary cell lines and technology to provide its clients in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries with an enhanced portfolio of next-generation, drug-development and safety-testing products and services comprised of both liver cells and additional cell types,” said Zurawski. “Also, the combination of Hepregen and BioTime technologies may provide Ascendance with a potential path to the development of new drug products in collaboration with biopharma companies.”

“The formation of Ascendance gives BioTime’s shareholders a two-fold benefit,” said Jeffrey Janus, previously president of BioTime’s ESI BIO division and now president of Ascendance. “It will provide BioTime’s cell-based products with a pathway to the pharmaceutical drug screening marketplace while providing a new source of revenues through the sale of the Hepregen line of assay products and new products slated for development by Ascendance. In addition, BioTime is retaining the rights to any cell-based therapeutic products generated by clinical researchers using BioTime’s stem cells and hydrogels.”

“Forming Ascendance as an independent company responsible for its own funding, and with its own sales and marketing capabilities, is aligned with our commitment to focus on therapeutics while allowing BioTime investors the opportunity to benefit from our extensive portfolio of technologies and intellectual property,” said said Adi Mohanty, BioTime’s co-CEO. “Our ownership of part of Ascendance will allow our shareholders to benefit from the rapid growth of the large market for products used in drug efficacy screening and safety testing,”

Detailed financial terms of the transaction, and Hepregen’s historical revenue growth, are not being disclosed at this time. In exchange for its contribution of certain assets relating to its research products and related patents and technology, BioTime will acquire a majority equity position in Ascendance.

BioTime is a clinical-stage biotechnology focused on regenerative medicine.

Hepregen makes bioengineered micro-liver platforms for use in environmental testing, preventive care, and product development.