BioTime has appointed Brian Culley to serve as its sole CEO, as part of a corporate restructuring executed by the board of directors. Culley takes over for co-CEOs Adi Mohanty and Michael West, effective immediately.
Mohanty will stay on to assist with the transition while seeking opportunities elsewhere, but he will continue to serve on the boards of two of BioTime’s three affiliate companies, Asterias Biotherapeutics and OncoCyte. West, meanwhile, will focus on the third, AgeX Therapeutics, as its full-time CEO.
“Since I joined BioTime, we have advanced our platform science to develop product candidates in mid- and late-stage clinical trials and unlocked value from strategic transactions such as our recently-announced $43 million sale of AgeX Therapeutics shares to Juvenescence,” Mohanty said in a statement.
“The execution of our strategy has created a leaner and better-capitalized company, poised to build substantial value for our shareholders through further focus on clinical progress,” Mohanty said. “This is an excellent time to evolve our leadership structure, which we have done by recruiting an industry veteran with significant experience leading clinical-stage companies.”
Culley previously lead Mast Therapeutics for seven years, which completed a reverse merger with Savara in 2017. Before that, he held roles in business development, technology transfer and early discovery research at Neurocrine Biosciences.
BioTime’s deal with aging-focused Juvenescence, which closed earlier this month, included the sale of $43.2 million in AgeX shares paid in two installments: half in cash, and the rest in two-year promissory notes, which could be worth more in future Juvenescence shares if it follows through with plans to go public in 2019.
The first $21.6 million adds an additional 10 months to BioTime’s current monthly cash burn, which averages about $2 million—as the company awaits CE Mark approval for its hydrogel-based fat tissue graft substitute, Renevia, submitted in March. The decision is expected before the end of the year.
In the meantime, AgeX and BioTime will continue to work together through their licenses and contracts. “AgeX will take the lead in developing new applications targeting human aging, including use in age-related metabolic disorders, vascular aging and the emerging field of induced tissue regeneration,” West said.