BioTime (NYSE MKT:BTX) has created AgeX Therapeutics, which will consolidate certain BioTime subsidiaries and programs in the field of interventional gerontology.
The formation of AgeX continues the implementation of BioTime’s strategy to simplify its corporate structure and operations as well as focus resources on the continued clinical development of its two lead programs; Renevia, a cell delivery matrix designed to facilitate the stable engraftment of transplanted cells that is currently in a pivotal clinical trial, and OpRegen, a pluripotent cell-derived cell therapy that is in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial for dry-AMD.
“The formation of AgeX is in line with our stated objectives of simplification and unlocking value,” Adi Mohanty, co-CEO of BioTime, said in a statement.
“This step will provide greater flexibility to AgeX as it considers further development of its technology platform and grows its business,” he added. “This step is also especially important to BioTime as it increasingly focuses its resources on clinical development of its ophthalmology, aesthetics and therapeutics delivery products.”
The mission of AgeX is to apply technology related to pluripotent stem cells and telomere biology to aging and age-related disease. AgeX is expected to have three initial areas of focus.
These include development of pluripotent stem cell-derived brown adipocytes for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and potentially obesity; development of vascular progenitors to improve circulation to ischemic tissues in patients suffering from heart disease; and induced tissue regeneration, an emerging technology invented and patented by BioTime scientists that is designed to profoundly reprogram aged tissues in the body in a way that can restore a regenerative phenotype normally expressed only in the first few weeks of human development.
Co-CEO, Michael West, said the aging U.S. population is the demographic trend of our time. “In our opinion, these assets, carefully assembled and developed over the past few years, will facilitate our leadership of the explosive growth of product development in the emerging field of interventional gerontology.”
