UPDATE: BioTime Appoints Angus C. Russell To Bd Of Directors

BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX), a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced that Angus C. Russell, former Chief Executive Officer of Shire plc, has been appointed to BioTime's Board of Directors. Shire is a leading global specialty biopharmaceutical company. During Mr. Russell's tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Shire from 2008 until his retirement in April 2013, Shire introduced several new products, grew revenues over 50%, and increased earnings approximately five-fold to $745 million. In addition, Mr. Russell served as Chairman of Shire's Leadership Team and a lead member of the Shire Management Committee, which designed and implemented Shire's immensely successful long-term business strategy. Previously, Mr. Russell was Chief Financial Officer at Shire from 1999 to 2008. Shire's market capitalization grew from $1.4 billion when Mr. Russell joined the company in 1999 to $17.5 billion when he retired at the end of April 2013. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Mallinckrodt plc and Revance Therapeutics, Inc. In addition, he previously served on the boards of InterMune, Inc., which was acquired by Roche Holding AG in September 2014, and Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was acquired by Mallinckrodt plc in August 2014. “Angus is a respected biopharmaceutical industry leader with more than 30 years of experience in commercialization, operations, product development and strategic acquisitions," said Dr. Michael D. West, Chief Executive Officer of BioTime. “Angus' impressive track record will bring significant value to BioTime and its Board of Directors. We look forward to drawing on his years of experience as we plan for commercialization of our diagnostic and medical device products that are in late stage clinical trials, and as our subsidiaries Asterias Biotherapeutics and Cell Cure Neurosciences commence clinical trials of their therapeutic products.” “BioTime is the technology leader in developing cellular therapeutics from its leading platform of pluripotent stem cell technology," Mr. Russell said. “Pluripotent stem cell technology has the potential to transform how medicine is practiced. The key to being the industry leader in this field will be combining the best of science with a solid development and commercialization strategy. I look forward to working with the BioTime board and management team to speed these new therapies to the patients who need them so urgently.” Prior to joining Shire, Mr. Russell served at ICI, Zeneca, and AstraZeneca for 19 years, most recently as Vice President of Corporate Finance at AstraZeneca PLC. In that role he was responsible for financial input into merger and acquisition activities, management of tax, legal and finance structure, investor relations, and the management of various financial risks. Mr. Russell also held a number of positions within Zeneca Group PLC from 1993 until 1999, including Group Treasurer. He is a chartered accountant, having qualified with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP).