BioTime Announces Joint Hypothermic Medicine Study With Argonne National Laboratory

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(EON:Enhanced Online News)--BioTime, Inc. (OTCBB:BTIM) and Argonne National Laboratory today announced that they intend to engage in a cooperative research program in the field of therapeutic hypothermia. BioTime and Argonne have each developed complementary technologies in the field with potential applications in stroke, heart attack, and trauma patients.

Lowering the temperature of the body and/or of individual organs is a protective measure against ischemic damage and other physiological consequences of trauma. The effectiveness of hypothermia as a therapeutic intervention is critically time dependent, as therapeutic cooling must be applied within minutes of a traumatic event, such as a spinal cord injury.

BioTime’s proprietary HetaCool^® low-temperature blood substitute technology has allowed animal subjects to reversibly undergo circulatory arrest for up to two hours at ice cold temperatures. This technology may have application in elective surgery, giving doctors more time to perform complex lifesaving procedures that cannot be accomplished when normal blood circulation must be maintained.

Argonne scientists have developed a proprietary technology to produce unique injectable ice/saline-water slurries, which when applied to animal models, can rapidly reduce the temperature of critical organs (e.g. the brain, kidney etc.) or the body as a whole. These formulations are being developed for both emergency trauma and surgical applications. Argonne has successfully produced an ice slurry using BioTime’s proprietary plasma volume expander Hextend^® using one of its patented methods. The solution, having a high ice concentration, was successfully delivered through a catheter. A Hextend-based ice slurry, when used intravascularly, may provide optimal cooling while preventing edema and acidosis.

The goal of the BioTime-Argonne cooperative research is to advance hypothermic trauma technology so it can be applied rapidly in the field by relatively untrained personnel, after which the patient could be transferred to a hospital. The combination of Argonne’s ice/water-based slurry with BioTime’s HetaCool^® technology, if further developed, integrated, and brought through human clinical testing may thereby improve outcomes and potentially save lives, which now are forfeited to the consequences of circulatory arrest and trauma.

BioTime and Argonne will collaboratively endeavor to test their current technologies in appropriate model systems and seek to improve their products and techniques to quickly and safely lower the temperature of tissues, organs and whole mammals for extended periods of time. A BioTime-Argonne research program is subject to the availability of funding.

Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne is the nation’s first national laboratory, conducting leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

About BioTime, Inc.

BioTime, headquartered in Emeryville, California, develops blood plasma volume expanders, blood replacement solutions for hypothermic (low temperature) surgery, organ preservation solutions, and technology for use in surgery, emergency trauma treatment and other applications. BioTime’s lead product Hextend is manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by Hospira, Inc. and in South Korea by CJ Corp. under exclusive licensing agreements. BioTime has recently entered the field of regenerative medicine where it plans to develop new medical and research products using embryonic stem cell technology. Information about BioTime can be found on the web at www.biotimeinc.com. Hextend^®, PentaLyte^®, and HetaCool^® are registered trademarks of BioTime, Inc.

Forward Looking Statements

The matters discussed in this press release include forward-looking statements which are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the success of BioTime in developing new stem cell products and technologies; results of clinical trials of BioTime products; the ability of BioTime and its licensees to obtain additional FDA and foreign regulatory approval to market BioTime products; competition from products manufactured and sold or being developed by other companies; the price of and demand for BioTime products, and the ability of BioTime to raise the capital needed to finance its current and planned operations. Other factors that could affect BioTime’s operations and financial condition are discussed in BioTime’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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