WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (Advanced Cell, ACT) (OTC: ACTC) and a leading Korea-based stem cell company, CHA Bio & Diostech Co., Ltd. (CHA Bio), formerly known as CHA Biotech, Co., Ltd. and whose shares are publicly traded on KOSDAQ, announced today that the parties have entered into a licensing agreement under which Advanced Cell will license its proprietary “single blastomere technology,” which has the potential to generate stable cell lines, including retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells for the treatment of diseases of the eye, to CHA Bio for development and commercialization exclusively in Korea. ACT received an undisclosed up-front license fee. The Company believes there are some 200 different retinal diseases that may be impacted by this stem cell derived therapy including macular degeneration, which represents a $28 billion dollar market. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 30 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60 years of age in the United States.
