BioTime Inc. has announced the addition of 4 new members to its Board of Directors: Neal C. Bradsher, Arnold I. Burns, Abraham E. Cohen, and Alfred D. Kingsley, with Mr. Kingsley appointed to serve as Chairman of the Board. The new members were elected on the basis of their experience in corporate finance, corporate governance, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Neal C. Bradsher, who holds a B.A. degree in economics from Yale and is a Chartered Financial Analyst, was previously a Managing Director at Whitehall Asset Management, Inc., and had formerly served as senior equity analyst at Alex Brown & Sons as well as at Hambrecht & Quist, in addition to having been a managing director at Campbell Advisors. Currently Mr. Bradsher is President of the private investment firm Broadwood Capital, and is also a director of Questcor Pharmaceuticals.
Currently Arnold I. Burns is Chairman of the strategic management consulting firm QuanStar Advisor Group, LLC. A practicing attorney for nearly 40 years with a J.D. degree from Cornell Law School, Mr. Burns was a managing director of Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, Inc., and of Natexis Bleichroeder. He also served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States and as Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Justice, from 1986 to 1988. He has also been a partner with the New York law firm of Proskauer Rose, LLP.
Formerly Senior Vice President and President of the Merck Sharp & Dohme International Division within Merck & Co., Abraham E. "Barry" Cohen has enjoyed a long career in the pharmaceutical industry where he was instrumental in the development and expansion of Merck’s international business presence throughout Asia and Europe. Currently Mr. Cohen serves as a director of several public companies including Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and MannKind Corporation, among others. Additionally, he is an independent international business consultant and is also Chairman and President of Kramex Company, a privately owned consulting firm.
Currently Alfred D. Kingsley is the general partner of Greenway Partners, L.P., a private investment firm, and President of Greenbelt Corp., a business consulting firm which served as BioTime’s financial advisor from 1998 until earlier this year. He holds a B.S. degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. degree and LLM in taxation from New York University Law School. Mr. Kingsley also held the position of Senior Vice President at Icahn and Company and its affiliated entities for more than 25 years.
BioTime’s two largest shareholders are Broadwood Parners, L.P. – the investment partnership managed by Neal Bradsher through its general partner, Broadwood Capital – and Alfred Kingsley, both directly and indirectly through his affiliated investment and management companies.
As BioTime’s CEO, Dr. Michael West, announced, "We are deeply grateful for this commitment from such an accomplished group of individuals. The breadth of their experience in business, governance, and finance will be of great benefit to the Company’s management in building BioTime’s new businesses in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine. The creation of an independent board of directors for BioTime is an important step in building the company and is consistent with the corporate governance requirements of national securities exchanges. Moreover, the participation of Mr. Bradsher and Mr. Kingsley will advance the interests of corporate democracy by giving our two largest shareholders a direct voice on our Board."
Mr. Kingsley replied by stating, "The Board looks forward to working with BioTime’s management in realizing the potential of the revolution in regenerative medicine initiated by Dr. West."
Headquarterd in Alameda, California, BioTime is focused on the development and commercialization of technology and products related to blood plasma volume expanders for use in emergency trauma treatment, surgery and related applications. Its wholly owned subsidiary Embryome Sciences is "focused on developing an array of research and therapeutic products using human embryonic stem cell technology", as described on the personal website of Michael West, Ph.D., molecular gerontologist and BioTime’s CEO. Prior to his work with BioTime, Dr. West founded the Geron Corporation, which received FDA approval earlier this year to commence the first human clinical trials ever to be conducted with hESCs.
(Please see the related news articles on this website, entitled, "BioTime Receives Second Round of Funding", dated July 13, 2009, and "BioTime Announces Agreement With Millipore", dated July 9, 2009).