LOS ANGELES—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (OTCBB:ACTC – News) today announced the promotion of Dr. Robert Lanza, M.D., to the position of Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Lanza joined Advanced Cell Technology in 1999 and has developed and managed several of the company’s human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research programs including, but not limited to, the Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) Cell Program, the Hemangioblast (HG) Cell Program and the Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) research. Dr. Lanza will continue to work closely with Dr. Pedro Huertas, M.D., Ph.D., ACT’s Chief Development Officer, to drive these hESC therapies to the clinical development stage. The company expects to file INDs for its RPE and HG Programs in 2008.
Moreover, with the acquisition of Mytogen, Dr. Huertas and Dr. Lanza together with Dr. Jonathan Dinsmore, Ph.D., expect ACT’s Myoblast Program, an adult autologous stem cell therapy for the treatment of heart failure, to begin Phase II human clinical trials shortly, after having successfully completed four Phase I human clinical trials. Dr. Nabil Dib, an interventional cardiologist at University of California at San Diego’s School of Medicine, will serve as a consultant to the company and lead the cellular transplantation process which is at the center of the Myoblast Program clinical trials.
“We are excited to elevate Dr. Lanza to this position after his contributions to the company and look forward to his leadership and guidance,” stated William M. Caldwell, IV, Chairman and CEO of Advanced Cell Technology. “Following the acquisition of Mytogen, Inc., we have streamlined this company to more effectively and expeditiously move our stem cell therapies from the research stage to the clinical trial phase of development. We believe the combination of Dr. Lanza, Dr. Huertas and Dr. Dinsmore provide us with a world-class research and development team.”
Dr. Lanza has over 25 years of research and industrial experience in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. From 1990 to 1998, he was Director of Transplantation Biology at BioHybrid Technologies, Inc., and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Lanza has several hundred scientific publications and patents, and has authored and/or edited 20 books, including the Handbook of Stem Cells (as Editor-in-Chief), Principles of Tissue Engineering, XENO, Yearbook of Cell & Tissue Transplantation, and One World: The Health & Survival of the Human Species in the 21st Century (as editor, with forewords by C. Everett Koop and former President Jimmy Carter). He is a former Fulbright Scholar, and studied as a student in the laboratories of Richard Hynes (MIT), Jonas Salk (The Salk Institute), and Nobel laureates Gerald Edelman (Rockefeller University) and Rodney Porter (Oxford University). Dr. Lanza also worked closely and coauthored a series of papers with the late Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner and heart transplant pioneer Christiaan Barnard. Dr. Lanza received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was both a University Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar.
Simultaneous with Dr. Lanza’s promotion, Advanced Cell Technology has announced that Michael D. West, Ph.D., is voluntarily stepping down as the company’s President and Chief Scientific Officer to pursue new opportunities primarily relating to continued research on the ACTcellerate technology platform, which was exclusively developed by Dr. West. The company is in current discussions with several companies to license the ACTcellerate technology program. Dr. West will remain as a director of the company and has entered into a consulting arrangement through the end of 2007 to assist the company with certain scientific and intellectual property projects. “On behalf of the company, the board of directors, and the employees at Advanced Cell Technology, we want to thank Dr. West for his dedication and leadership and for all of the contributions he has made both to our company as well to the field of regenerative medicine.” stated Mr. Caldwell.
“I look forward to working with ACT in my consulting capacity to help move the first embryonic stem cell-derived products into the clinic,” said Dr. Michael West.
Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. is a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The company operates facilities in California and Massachusetts.
For more information, visit www.advancedcell.com.
Statements in this news release regarding future financial and operating results, future growth in research and development programs, potential applications of our technology, opportunities for the company and any other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “will,” “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates,” and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: limited operating history, need for future capital, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, protection of our intellectual property, and economic conditions generally. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the company’s periodic reports, including the report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company’s management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change.
Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company’s management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change.
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