AST's technology comes from one of the leading companies in regenerative medicine, BioTime, Inc., (NYSE: BTX) which spun off Asterias Biotherapeutics a few years ago and is also its largest shareholder. It is also worth pointing out that BioTime's CEO, Dr. Michael West, is one of the world's leading experts in regenerative and stem cell research.

Asterias Biotherapeutics is a leading biotechnology company in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The company's proprietary cell therapy programs are based on its immunotherapy and pluripotent stem cell platform technologies. Asterias is presently focused on advancing three clinical-stage programs which have the potential to address areas of very high unmet medical need in the fields of oncology and neurology.

As part of a multi-center trial, doctors at Keck Medical Center at the University of Southern California, employing Asterias Biotherapeutics' AST-OPC1 experimental treatment, injected 10 million oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) into the damaged spine of Kristopher (Kris) Boesen a 21 year-old California man who was paralyzed from the neck down after suffering a traumatic cervical spine injury in an automobile accident on March 6th, 2016.