<table> <tbody> <tr> <td> Advanced Cell Technologies Strengthens Balance Sheet Through Completion of Private Placements

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Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (“Advanced Cell”, or the “Company”) (OTCBB: ACTC), announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements on three private placements with institutional and other accredited investors under which the Company has received definitive commitments in excess of $15 million. The three investments are expected to provide proceeds sufficient to fund the Company’s general operations and working capital for the next two years. Much of the proceeds will be used to support the Company’s Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) program, which the Company expects to commence later this year through the filing of an IND with the FDA, in addition to funding development of certain other pre clinical programs.

“We are extremely pleased to have negotiated these financings, with the support of existing debt holders, which will leave us sufficiently capitalized well into 2011,” remarked William M. Caldwell IV, CEO of Advanced Cell. “In addition to satisfying our operational and working capital needs, these funds will be integral in advancing our RPE Program through the clinic once we receive FDA clearance to commence clinical activities. Although we will require additional funds for specific development programs, we believe the current funding go a long way to satisfying our general operations and specific research programs into 2011.”

The Company completed the placement of a series of debentures to existing investors in the principal amount of $2,103,000, convertible into common stock at $0.10 per share for which the Company was paid $1,752,000. The Company will be required to redeem the debentures monthly commencing in May 2010, in the amount of 14.28% of the initial principal amount of the Notes, in cash or common stock at the Company’s option. The investors also received warrants to purchase an aggregate of 14,020,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.108. Further, the investors are obligated to purchase an additional $2,103,000 principal amount of debentures and 14,020,000 warrants within 90 days, at a purchase price of $1,752,000, subject to customary conditions. The investors also received an Additional Investment Right, which terminates in August 2010, and allows the investors to purchase up to $2,200,000 of principal amount of the Company’s convertible notes on the same terms and conditions as the original notes purchased in the offering. If the investors exercise their Additional Investment Right, they will also receive one and one third Class B warrants for each two shares that would be issued if the investors converted the entire portion of the note purchased pursuant to their Additional Investment Right.

The Company also entered into amended agreements with an existing investor. Under the first amended agreement, the Company received gross proceeds of $1,000,000 and issued a secured and collateralized convertible promissory note for $1,200,000. The Company shall pay a one-time interest payment of 10% of the principal of the promissory note which is due on the maturity date of the promissory note, which is in October, 2012. The promissory note is convertible into shares of the Company’s Common Stock at a conversion price of the lesser of (i) $.25 per share or (ii) eighty percent of the average of the three lowest trade prices in the 20 trading days prior to the conversion. Under the second amended agreement, the Company received gross proceeds of $1,000,000 and issued a Secured & Collateralized Promissory Note for $1,000,000. The Company shall pay a one-time interest payment of 12% of the principal of the promissory note which is due on the maturity date of the promissory note, which is in October, 2012. The promissory note is secured by $1,000,000 of a money market fund or other assets of the Investor.

The remaining funding is expected to be provided by Optimus Life Sciences Partners, a private investment fund with offices in New York and California, under which Advanced Cell may sell up to $10 million of 10% non-convertible perpetual preferred stock and warrants to purchase up to approximately 119,000,000 shares of common stock, subject to meeting certain conditions. The warrants are exercisable only to the extent the Company elects to put preferred stock to Optimus. Warrants to purchase common stock equal to 135% of the monies funded by Optimus will be exercisable at the market price of the common stock at the time of each funding. The Company agreed to pay Optimus a commitment fee of 5%, payable in cash or registered shares of common stock (priced at 90% of the then current market price), at the option of the Company.

The Company expects to immediately file a registration statement with the SEC in connection with the Optimus transaction, as well as other recent financings and certain other previously issued securities.

Further information on each of the foregoing transactions can be found in the Form 8-K filed today by the Company with the SEC.

 

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. ( OTCBB:ACTC ) announced today that it filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase I/II multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived retinal cells to treat patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD). Among the most common causes of untreatable blindness in the world are degenerative diseases of the retina. As many as 10 million people in the United States have photoreceptor degenerative disease. While most of these patients have Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a smaller number of patients have Stargardt’s, an Orphan disease and one of the most common forms of juvenile macular blindness. The treatment for eye disease uses stem cells to re-create a type of cell in the retina that supports the photoreceptors needed for vision. These cells, called retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), are often the first to die off in SMD and AMD, which in turn leads to loss of vision.

 

While there is currently no treatment for SMD, several years ago ACT and its collaborators found that human embryonic stem cells could be a source of RPE cells. Subsequent studies found that the cells could restore vision in animal models of macular degeneration. In the Royal College of Surgeon (RCS) rat model, implantation of RPE cells resulted in 100% improvement in visual performance over untreated controls without any adverse effects. The cells survived for more than 220 days and sustained extensive photoreceptor rescue. Functional rescue was also achieved in the ‘Stargardt’s’ mouse with near-normal functional measurements recorded at more than 70 days.

 

“It has been over a decade since human embryonic stem cells were first discovered,” said Dr. Robert Lanza, ACT’s Chief Scientific Officer. “The field desperately needs a big clinical success. After years of research and political debate, we’re finally on the verge of showing the potential clinical value of embryonic stem cell research. Our research clearly shows that stem cell-derived retinal cells can rescue visual function in animals that otherwise would have gone blind. We are hopeful that the cells will be similarly efficacious in patients.”

The Phase I/II trial will be a prospective, open-label study that is designed to determine the safety and tolerability of the RPE cells following sub-retinal transplantation to advanced patients with SMD. A total of twelve patients will be enrolled into the study at three clinical sites, including the Casey Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon (headed by Dr. Peter Francis of the Oregon Health & Sciences University); the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts (headed by Dr. Shalesh Kaushal, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology); and the UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey (headed by Dr. Marco Zarbin, Chair, Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science). “It is an honor for us to be working with ophthalmology researchers of such high caliber,” said Edmund V. Mickunas, Advanced Cell’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. “They have been instrumental as collaborators on the clinical trial design and their input has been invaluable.”

“The filing of this IND places Advanced Cell Technology in position to help lead the industry in validating the stem cell platform,” said William M. Caldwell IV, Advanced Cell’s Chairman and CEO. “Over the past year, we have taken important steps to advance our RPE program while overcoming significant financial challenges. Advanced Cell today is uniquely positioned within the regenerative medicine industry; as it has the technology, a renown scientific and development team and access to capital to become one of the first companies to make the use of an embryonic stem cell derived therapy a reality in treating a major unmet medical need.”