BioTime obtains license from Wistar Institute for technology related to SP100 gene

BioTime, Inc. (NYSE Amex:BTX) today announced that it has obtained an exclusive license from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, PA for technology related to a gene designated as SP100. Wistar Institute researchers have demonstrated pivotal roles for this gene in both cancer and stem cell biology. Scientists at BioTime's subsidiaries OncoCyte Corporation and ReCyte Therapeutics plan to apply this technology in the development of innovative medical products for cancer and vascular diseases. In conjunction with the license agreement, BioTime has agreed to fund research at The Wistar Institute to advance the technology, and BioTime will receive certain rights to negotiate additional licenses for any technologies invented as a result of the research.

"It is rare to find a gene like SP100 that has such strategic importance in diverse fields of medicine like oncology and stem cell biology," said Michael West, Ph.D., BioTime's CEO. "The discovery of the role this gene plays in regulating cell aging, immortalization, the stem cell state, and cancer is both a reflection of the stature of Wistar Institute researchers as well as the power of modern medicine to uncover molecular mechanisms that have long escaped understanding."

Source: BioTime, Inc.