BioTime, Inc., a pioneer in regenerative medicine and a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has received 27 new patents protecting stem cell-based product development during the first half of 2015. The patents are owned or licensed to BioTime or its subsidiaries.

These new patents add to the portfolio of over 700 issued and pending patents and patent applications world wide that are owned or licensed to BioTime or its subsidiaries. The new patents include seven new US patents, as well as 20 additional patents issued in Europe, Japan, Canada and Singapore.

“As a leader in regenerative medicine, the BioTime family of companies commands the largest known patent estate covering the therapeutic uses of pluripotent stem technology. BioTime has worked diligently to strengthen this portfolio to protect our therapeutic programs from unfair competition and drive value in corporate alliances,” said Michael D. West, Ph.D. BioTime’s chief executive officer.

Select examples of new patents issuing in the United States include: United States patent 8,956,866 – “Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Differentiated from Embryonic Stem Cells with Nicotinamide and Activin A” discloses methods useful in the manufacture retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells such as OpRegen, a product in clinical development by BioTime’s subsidiary, Cell Cure Neurosciences, Inc. for the treatment of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration, United States patent 8,968,994 – “Method for Stem Cell Culture and Cells Derived Therefrom” protects the culture of pluripotent stem cells such as embryonic stem cells (ES cells) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) on positively-charged surfaces. Such surfaces are commonly used in the scale-up of pluripotent stem cells or cells made from them, United States patent 8,951,800 – “Primate Pluripotent Stem Cell Expansion without Feeder Cells and in the Presence of FGF and Matrigel or Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm Tumor Cell Preparation” protects the culture of primate pluripotent stem cells in the presence of fibroblast growth factor and cultured on matrices such as the commonly-used product designated Matrigel,
United States patent 9,023,645 – “Isolated In Vitro Cell Population Comprising Primate Pluripotent Stem Cells Containing a Nucleic Acid Construct and Differentiated Progeny of the Pluripotent Stem Cells” claims methods useful in eliminating undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells from a product of diverse differentiated cells such as neurons, liver, or heart muscle cells, United States patent 9,029,145 – “Chondrogenic Progenitor Cells, Protocol for Derivation of Cells and Uses Thereof” claims a method for the manufacture of cartilage cells, United States patent 8,987,213 – “Peptides That Selectively Home to Heart Vasculature and Related Conjugates and Methods” claims a method of targeting heart vasculature for the delivery of therapeutics, United States patent 9,062,289 – “Differentiation of Primate Pluripotent Stem Cells to Cardiomyocyte-Lineage Cells” claims methods for the manufacture of heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) from human embryonic stem cells.

Additional patents issued internationally include Canada patent number 2552288; France patent numbers 1337632, 1412481; Germany patent numbers 1337632, 1412481; Ireland patent numbers 1337632, 1412481; Italy patent numbers 1337632, 1412481; Japan patent numbers 5685242, 5703028, 5711441, 5734836; Singapore patent numbers 184440; Spain patent numbers 1337632, 1412481; Switzerland patent numbers 1337632; 1412481; and UK patent numbers 1337632 and 1412481.