interests in Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc., or Ascendance, Asterias, LifeMap Sciences, Inc., or LifeMap Sciences, LifeMap Solutions, Inc., or LifeMap Solutions, OncoCyte, OrthoCyte Corporation, or OrthoCyte, and ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc., or ReCyte.
We hold an approximately 46% interest in Ascendance, a company that manufactures and sells proprietary products and services that assay new drug candidates for potential toxicity, including HepatoPac® and HepatoMune®, and other products for use as research tools by a range of customers, including several leading global pharmaceutical companies. We hold an approximately 45% interest in Asterias, whose principal field of business involves therapeutic products derived from pluripotent stem cells, and immunotherapy products. Asterias’ clinical programs include AST-OPC1 for spinal cord injury, AST-VAC1 for acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, and AST-VAC2 for non-small cell lung cancer. We hold an approximately 78% interest in LifeMap Sciences, whose principal field of business involves biomedical, gene, disease, and stem cell databases and research tools. We indirectly hold interests in LifeMap Solutions, a mobile health software company, and LifeMap Sciences, Ltd., a company located in Israel that develops biomedical, gene, disease, and stem cell databases and research tools, each of which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of LifeMap Sciences.
We hold an approximately 51% interest in OncoCyte, whose principal field of business involves proprietary non-invasive, liquid biopsy and diagnostics for lung, breast and bladder cancers. We wholly own OrthoCyte, whose principal field of business involves bone grafting products for orthopedic diseases and injuries. Lastly, we hold an approximately 95% interest in ReCyte, whose principal field of business involves stem cell-derived endothelial and cardiovascular related progenitor cells for the treatment of vascular disorders, ischemic conditions and brown adipocytes for type-2 diabetes and obesity.
In Singapore, we wholly own ES Cell International Pte Ltd., or ES Cell, an entity that utilizes stem cell products for research, including clinical grade cell lines produced under current good manufacturing procedures.
In Israel, we hold an approximately 62.5% interest in Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd., or Cell Cure Neurosciences, an entity that develops products to treat age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, and other neurological diseases. According to the Angiogenesis Foundation, AMD afflicts over 30 million people worldwide. AMD takes two forms, a dry form and a wet form. The dry form of AMD occurs when the light-sensitive cells in the macula of the eye break down due to the death of a supporting cell type called retinal pigment epithelial cells, impairing central vision and sometimes leading to blindness. Approximately 90% of AMD prevalence is the dry form of the disease, while the wet form afflicts only about 10% of patients. Nevertheless, the market for therapeutics for the wet form of AMD is approximately $5 billion globally. According to the National Institutes of Health, the dry form of AMD is a leading cause of blindness in people over age 60. In addition, it is estimated that approximately 1.6 million new cases of the dry form of AMD develop in the United States each year. Cell Cure Neurosciences’ lead product is OpRegen®, which is a potential therapy derived from National Institutes of Health-registered pluripotent human stem cells for the treatment of the dry form of AMD. Cell Cure Neuorsciences manufactures OpRegen® under fully scalable Current Good Manufacturing Practice conditions. Patients are currently being treated with OpRegen® in a Phase I/IIa dose-escalation clinical trial. We expect to complete enrollment of the second cohort of this trial and receive clearance from the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, and to begin and complete enrollment in the third cohort in the first half of 2017. We expect to report six-month data from the second cohort of this trial and clearance from the DSMB to begin the fourth cohort in the second half of 2017. In addition, we expect to report completion of the first cohort of this trial, the second cohort is expected to be enrolled and we anticipate approval from the DSMB to proceed to the third cohort, by the end of this year
In addition, we are currently developing Renevia® as a potential treatment for HIV related facial lipoatrophy, a syndrome that occurs in HIV-infected patients who are being treated with antiretroviral medications. Renevia® consists of our proprietary cell-transplantation delivery matrix, HyStem®, combined with the patient’s own adipose cells. Approximately 350,000 people in Europe have HIV-related lipoatrophy or facial wasting. We plan to file our CE Mark in Europe in the second half of 2017. In addition, we intend to complete enrollment for a pivotal trial in the United States and initiate that trial during the first half of 2017. Renevia® may address an immediate need in cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries and other procedures by improving the process of transplanting adipose fat derived cells or other cells. Cell types such as adipose stem cells obtained from a patient through liposuction can be transplanted back into the same patient at another location in the body, without the risk of rejection associated with the transplant of donor tissues. Over time, we may discover that Renevia® has much broader applications beyond its use in patients with HIV. It is estimated that the global facial aesthetics