BioTime Conducts Sale of Shares in OncoCyte Corporation
July 02 2019 - 4:15PM
Business Wire
BioTime, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: BTX), a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing cellular therapies for unmet
medical needs, announced the pricing of the sale of 2,250,000
shares of common stock of OncoCyte Corporation at a price to buyers
of $2.00 per share, for gross proceeds totaling $4,500,000, before
payment of customary sales commissions and offering expenses. The
sale is expected to close on July 5, 2019, subject to customary
closing conditions. Following the completion of the sale, BioTime
will own approximately 23.9% or 12.4 million shares of OncoCyte’s
outstanding common stock. Based on the closing price of OncoCyte’s
common stock on July 2, 2019, the value of BioTime’s remaining
OncoCyte shares following the closing is approximately $24.6
million.
“As we first outlined last year, we are simplifying our
corporate structure and focusing our priorities in order to build
BioTime into a premier cell therapy company. To support our
development programs, we have several funding mechanisms available
via our investments in OncoCyte and AgeX Therapeutics, Inc., as
well as a $21.6 million promissory note due to us from Juvenescence
Ltd. As outlined previously, we believe it is beneficial for our
shareholders if we can raise capital without issuing BioTime
shares,” stated Brian M. Culley, Chief Executive Officer of
BioTime. “At this time, to provide a longer financial runway for
our three clinical-stage programs, we have entered into an
agreement to convert approximately 15% of our investment in
OncoCyte into cash to support our operations. After this sale, we
expect to continue to be OncoCyte’s largest shareholder. We have no
plans to conduct additional sales of OncoCyte in the near-term and
entered into a 45-day lockup, but we otherwise may at any time
elect to leverage some of our remaining equity investments or the
$21.6 million promissory note due to us next August to further
support our business. We believe the technologies that OncoCyte and
AgeX are developing are highly promising, but we also must ensure
we have adequate funding to advance our internal programs. In
parallel, we also will continue to assess other funding and
strategic alliance opportunities which may be available through our
existing or future potential partners.”
About BioTime, Inc.
BioTime is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing new
cellular therapies for unmet medical needs. BioTime’s programs are
based on its proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated
development and manufacturing capabilities. With this platform
BioTime develops and manufactures specialized,
terminally-differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and
progenitor cell starting materials. These differentiated cells are
developed either to replace or support cells that are dysfunctional
or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury, or
administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective
immune response to cancer. BioTime’s clinical assets include (i)
OpRegen®, a retinal pigment epithelium transplant therapy in Phase
I/IIa development for the treatment of dry age-related macular
degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the developed world;
(ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase
I/IIa development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries;
and (iii) VAC2, an allogeneic cancer immunotherapy of
antigen-presenting dendritic cells currently in Phase I development
for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. For more
information, please visit www.biotimeinc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
BioTime cautions you that all statements, other than statements
of historical facts, contained in this press release, are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some
cases, can be identified by terms such as “believe,” “may,” “will,”
“estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “design,” “intend,” “expect,”
“could,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,”
“contemplate,” “project,” “target,” “tend to,” or the negative
version of these words and similar expressions. Such statements
include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the timing
and closing of BioTime’s sale of OncoCyte’s shares, the amount and
value of BioTime’s holdings in OncoCyte, and BioTime’s evaluation
of future funding and strategic alliance opportunities. Actual
results may differ from those in this press release due to the
risks and uncertainties inherent in BioTime’s business, including,
without limitation: BioTime’s ability to raise additional capital
when and as needed, to advance its product candidates; BioTime’s
ability to develop and commercialize product candidates; the
failure or delay in starting, conducting and completing clinical
trials or obtaining FDA or foreign regulatory approval for
BioTime’s product candidates in a timely manner; the therapeutic
potential of BioTime’s product candidates, and the disease
indications for which BioTime intends to develop its product
candidates; BioTime’s ability to conduct and design successful
clinical trials, to enroll a sufficient number of patients, to meet
established clinical endpoints, to avoid undesirable side effects
and other safety concerns, and to demonstrate sufficient efficacy
of its product candidates; and other risks described in BioTime’s
previous press releases and in BioTime’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including under the
heading “Risk Factors” in the BioTime’s annual report on Form 10-K
and any subsequent filings with the SEC. BioTime’s forward-looking
statements are based upon its current expectations and involve
assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be
incorrect. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified
in their entirety by these cautionary statements. You are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date on which they were made. BioTime
undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect
events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on
which they were made, except as required by law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190702005656/en/
BioTime Inc. IR Ioana C. Hone ir@biotimeinc.com (510)
871-4188
Solebury Trout IR Gitanjali Jain Ogawa
Gogawa@troutgroup.com (646) 378-2949
Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeut... (AMEX:BTX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeut... (AMEX:BTX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024