BioTime third quarter total revenues increase 82% to $815,284

BioTime, Inc. (NYSE Amex: BTX) today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 and provided an update on recent corporate developments.

“The third quarter marked a time not only of growth in revenues, but significantly, the first launch of many of our stem cell products for the research markets. Many of these products are primitive progenitors to the many cell types of the human body and proprietary products of BioTime”

For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, total revenue (including royalty income, revenue recognition of deferred license fees, grant income, and sale of research products) was $2,261,375, up 92% from $1,175,827 for the same period one year ago. These increases in revenue are primarily attributable to our receipt of $1,182,857 of our $4.7 million research grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine in quarterly installments during the three quarters of 2010. Net loss from operations was $2.46 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010 and $6.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, compared to $2.93 million and $5.25 million for the three and nine months ended September 2009. Increases in net loss from operations during 2010 reflect increases in research and development as we continued to expand our stem cell research program, and also reflect increases in other operating expenses.

Net cash used in operating activities was $4.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 and $3.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 respectively.

Taking into account a non-recurring, non-cash charge of $2.14 million of financing expenses related to raising capital through BioTime stock purchase warrants the net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2010 was $4.7 million, or ($0.11) per share, compared to a net loss of $3.6 million or ($0.11) per share for the three months ended September 30, 2009, and net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 was approximately $8.2 million, compared to a net loss of approximately $6.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

For the three months ended September 30, 2010, total revenue (including royalty income, revenue recognition of deferred license fees, grant income, and sale of research products) was $815,284, up 82% from $446,993 for the same period one year ago. In the three months ended September 30, 2010 we recognized revenues of $108,523 from the sale of stem cell lines and associated growth media to researchers in Asia and in the US. These totals include revenues that were recognized from our wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore (ES Cell International, Pte Ltd) for consideration received from a biotechnology subsidiary of one of the world's largest healthcare companies. This company is evaluating certain GMP cell lines to ascertain whether they might be useful for their internal research and possible commercial purposes. If the GMP cell lines successfully meet the evaluation criteria, there will be further possibilities for revenues and / or licensing arrangements.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, BioTime recognized $215,094 and $727,388, respectively, in royalty revenue from the sale of Hextend^®, BioTime's proprietary physiologically balanced blood plasma volume expander for treating low blood volume, a condition often caused by blood loss during surgery or by trauma. This compares to royalty revenue from the sale of Hextend of $225,518 and $799,910 during the three and nine month periods, respectively, ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in royalties reflects a decrease in sales to the United States Armed Forces, which was partially offset by an increase in sales to hospitals in the United States and South Korea.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $25.4 million as of September 30, 2010, compared with $12.2 million as of December 31, 2009. During the nine months ended September 30, 2010, BioTime received $18,673,192 in net cash from financing activities, including $543,662 received in connection with the exercises of 368,702 options and $18,129,530 received in connection with the exercises of 9,906,393 warrants.

"The third quarter marked a time not only of growth in revenues, but significantly, the first launch of many of our stem cell products for the research markets. Many of these products are primitive progenitors to the many cell types of the human body and proprietary products of BioTime," said Michael D. West, Ph.D., BioTime's President and CEO. "By year end we plan to be offering nearly 300 research products, most of which are not offered by any other manufacturer. Our next priority will be to increase market awareness of the advantage of the ACTCellerate^™ cell lines for the reproducible generation of human cell types for research related to drug discovery and cell-based therapy."

"We also were notified of the award of $733,000 in research grants from the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Program," continued Dr. West. "This funding, together with the $4.7 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine and funds received from the exercise of warrants, will facilitate the scale-up of both our stem cell research product business and our cellular therapy programs. Some of these prospective cellular therapies, such as OpRegen™ for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, recently optioned to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, are targeted to degenerative diseases associated with an aging US population."

SOURCE BioTime, Inc.