Ocata Therapeutics Receives Important New U.S. Patent for its RPE Therapy for Macular Degenerative Diseases

Ocata Therapeutics, Inc. ("Ocata" or "the Company"; NASDAQ: OCAT), a leader in the field of Regenerative Ophthalmology™, today announced that it continues to fortify the scope of protection covering its retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) transplant technology with the issuance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) of U.S. Patent No 9,045,732. This new patent further strengthens the Company's comprehensive suite of intellectual property which the Company believes to be an important component of its sustainable competitive advantage in Regenerative Ophthalmology. Ocata recently announced the issuance of three new patents and the Company believes it now has protection for the manufacture of all RPE cell products from pluripotent stem cell sources, including the manufacturing of all formulations, (e.g. suspensions and sheets of cells), for use as therapeutic agents, as well as the use of these formulations for treating ophthalmic diseases, such as dry age related macular degeneration ("dry AMD") and Stargardt's macular degeneration ("SMD"). "We continue to expand and strengthen our patent estate as we increase our worldwide leadership position in RPE products derived from any pluripotent cell source," said Paul K. Wotton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocata Therapeutics. "Our emphasis and ongoing investment in a comprehensive patent strategy has Ocata well positioned to initiate the next phase of our clinical development program; phase 2 trials for dry AMD and a pivotal trial for SMD. The development and commercialization of our breakthrough, fully differentiated cell therapies remains our key objective and we are committed to bringing these novel therapies to patients in need." This issued patent strengthens Ocata's broad intellectual property portfolio of more than 60 granted patents and approximately 200 patent applications globally. The current intellectual property estate, which incorporates additional filings around the core RPE cell therapy discovery and improvements the Company has made, may provide additional coverage for the Company's pharmaceutical preparations of RPE cells, methods of use, manufacturing processes, and products for the next 20 years or longer.