Bioheart, Inc. Announces Joint Venture in South Africa

SUNRISE, FL--(Marketwired - June 24, 2014) - Bioheart, Inc. (OTCBB: BHRT), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and, subject to regulatory approval, commercialization of autologous cell therapies for the treatment of degenerative diseases, announced today that it has entered into a joint venture with Dr. Walter Bell of South Africa.

Dr. Walter Bell has been providing Bioheart therapies to patients in South Africa suffering from degenerative diseases since the end of 2013. Under this new agreement, the facilities in South Africa will be expanded to provide cell culture expansion and cryopreservation to local patients. Bioheart can multiply and preserve an individual’s cells in sub-zero temperatures for future treatments as required.

“Every day, Bioheart remains laser-focused on delivering scientific advancements throughout the world and developing a partnership in South Africa is a testament to that mission,” said Kristin Comella, Bioheart’s Chief Science Office. “We have many patients in South Africa that can benefit from Bioheart therapies and the ability to culture, expand and bank cells locally will provide many advantages.”

Bioheart’s partnership will establish a critical relationship with the South African government and the joint venture will work closely with the Ministry of Health to make Bioheart protocols part of the standard of care for patients in South Africa and neighboring countries. Bioheart will provide the necessary training and expertise to transfer Bioheart therapies to the new facility.

Bioheart will assume 49% ownership of the new entity. Dr. Walter Bell and his team will offer these therapies to the more than 51 million people living in South Africa as well as being a premier site for medical tourism.

About Bioheart, Inc.
Bioheart, Inc. is committed to maintaining its leading position within the cardiovascular sector of the cell technology industry delivering cell therapies and biologics that help address congestive heart failure, lower limb ischemia, chronic heart ischemia, acute myocardial infarctions and other issues. Bioheart’s goals are to cause damaged tissue to be regenerated, when possible, and to improve a patient’s quality of life and reduce health care costs and hospitalizations.

Specific to biotechnology, Bioheart is focused on the discovery, development and, subject to regulatory approval, commercialization of autologous cell therapies for the treatment of chronic and acute heart damage and peripheral vascular disease. Its leading product, MyoCell, is a clinical muscle-derived cell therapy designed to populate regions of scar tissue within a patient’s heart with new living cells for the purpose of improving cardiac function in chronic heart failure patients. For more information on Bioheart, visit www.bioheartinc.com, or visit us on Facebook: Bioheart and Twitter @BioheartInc.

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The Company is subject to the risks and uncertainties described in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.