International Stem Cell CORP - Annual Report: 2012 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012

For the transition period from                      to                     

Commission File No. 0-51891

INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number: (760) 940-6383

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share

(Title of class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulations S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Park III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.    x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $29,036,000 based upon the closing price of the common stock on June 30, 2012 on the OTC QB Bulletin Board. Shares of common stock held by each officer, director and holder of five percent or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

As of March 15, 2013 there were 111,713,815 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Information from the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held in 2013 is incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

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Explanatory Note

The registrant previously reported as an accelerated filer, but has become a smaller reporting company under applicable SEC rules and regulations. Accordingly, the registrant is using scaled disclosure applicable to a smaller reporting company for this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. For example, statements regarding our financial position, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations, and assumptions and predictions about potential markets, future product demand, expenses and sales are all forward-looking statements. These statements may be found in the items of this Annual Report entitled “Description of Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as well as in this Annual Report generally. These statements are generally accompanied by words such as “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential(ly),” “continue,” “forecast,” “predict,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology.

We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. We believe that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, based on information available to us on the date hereof, but we cannot assure you that these assumptions and expectations will prove to have been correct or that we will take any action that we may presently be planning. However, these forward-looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or experience may differ materially from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, research and product development uncertainties, regulatory policies and approval requirements, competition from other similar businesses, market and general economic factors, the availability of resources and the other risks discussed in Item 1A of this Annual Report. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in this Annual Report.

We have identified some of the important factors that could cause future events to differ from our current expectations and they are described in this Annual Report in the section entitled “Risk Factors” which you should review carefully. Please consider our forward-looking statements in light of those risks as you read this Annual Report. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we project. We do not undertake, and specifically decline any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any statements to reflect new information or future events or developments.

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PART I

Business Overview

International Stem Cell Corporation (sometimes referred to herein as “ISCO”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a developmental stage biotechnology company focused on therapeutic and biomedical product development with multiple long-term therapeutic opportunities and two revenue-generating businesses offering potential for increased future revenue.

The Company is a development stage entity with no revenue generated from its principal operations in therapeutic research and development efforts. To date, the Company has generated limited and unpredictable incidental revenues to support its core therapeutic research and development efforts.

Our products are based on multi-decade experience with human cell culture and a proprietary type of pluripotent stem cells, “human parthenogenetic stem cells” (“hpSCs”). Our hpSCs are comparable to human embryonic stem cells (“hESCs”) in that they have the potential to be differentiated into many different cells in the human body. However, the derivation of hpSCs does not require the use of fertilized eggs or the destruction of viable human embryos and they offer the potential for creation of immune-matched cells and tissues that are less likely to be rejected following transplantation into people across various ethnic groups. ISCO scientists have created the first parthenogenetic, homozygous stem cell line that can be a source of therapeutic cells for hundreds of millions of individuals of differing genders, ages and racial background with minimal immune rejection after transplantation. ISCO’s collection of hpSCs, known as UniStemCell^™, currently consists of fifteen stem cell lines, three of which were created under cGMP conditions. We have facilities and manufacturing protocols that comply with the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and other regulatory authorities.

Market Opportunity and Growth Strategy

Therapeutic Market – Clinical Applications of hpSCs for Disease Treatment

With respect to therapeutic research and product candidates, we focus on applications where cell and tissue therapy is already proven but where there is an insufficient supply of safe and functional cells or tissue. We believe that the most promising potential clinical applications of our technology are: 1) Parkinson’s disease; 2) metabolic/liver diseases; and 3) corneal blindness.

Parkinson’s disease (“PD”) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and, according to the Parkinson Disease Foundation, there are more than one million sufferers in the United States and more than $2 billion is spent on medication. Currently there is no cure for PD and the improvements in symptoms provided by PD drugs often diminish with time. Using our proprietary technologies and know-how, we are creating neuronal cells from hpSCs as a potential treatment of PD and other central nervous system disorders in order to address this significant market opportunity.

Liver disease affects one in ten persons according to the American Liver Foundation, and is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. There are more than 100 individual diseases of the liver and, for people with liver failure, the only effective treatment is full or partial organ transplantation. However, the demand for liver organs far exceeds the number available. According to the American Liver Foundation, over 16,000 individuals in the United States are waiting for a transplant. Using our proprietary technologies and know-how, we are creating liver cells from hpSCs that may be used to treat a variety of hepatic and metabolic liver diseases to address this significant market opportunity. Importantly, liver cell transplantation has already been used in early stage clinical trials to treat patients with liver failure and has proven especially useful as a “bridge” to keep patients alive until they can receive a whole liver transplant.

According to the World Health Organization, corneal blindness currently affects between seven and eight million people worldwide with a significant number of those people in India. There is a tremendous shortage of cells and corneal tissue for transplantation necessary to effectively treat sufferers, particularly in South Asia where cultural and other reasons inhibit the donation of corneal tissue. Using our proprietary technologies and know-how, we are creating corneal-like structures from hpSCs. These clear hollow spheres are composed of tissue with a three-dimensional layered structure similar to what is found in normal corneal tissue. Portions or all of these tissue layers may be suitable for cornea transplantation in humans. In addition, corneal cells can be used for coating contact lenses to accelerate corneal healing. We are currently collaborating with a leading eye hospital in India for pre-clinical and clinical development of a cornea product for the Indian market.

Cosmeceutical Market – Skin Care Products

Anti-aging represents a significant portion of the prestige facial skincare market and seems to be resilient to a recessionary economy. In key markets such as the U.S. and Asia, we believe that the prestige facial skincare market is positioned for significant growth.

In order to make claims that products can actually diminish the signs of aging, marketers are constantly looking for new combinations of specialty ingredients. The category of skincare products based on biotechnology such as human stem cells is just beginning to be developed, and therefore we believe that it has significant growth potential. Our goal is to leverage our leadership in human stem cell technology to develop and commercialize advanced anti-aging skincare products for the consumer and professional channels.

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Our wholly-owned subsidiary Lifeline Skin Care, Inc. (“LSC”) develops, manufactures and markets cosmetic skin care products to address this significant market opportunity. Lifeline Skin Care has three proprietary products, Defensive Day Serum, Recovery Night Serum and an Eye Firming Complex, all of which include our patented stem cell extract.

LSC’s products are sold nationally and internationally through a branded website; through professional channels (including dermatologists; plastic surgeons; medical, day and resort spas,) and distributors. Domestically, we plan to increase distribution of our products by increasing brand awareness and resonance through advertising, sales promotion and public relations. Internationally, we are increasing distribution and sales through agreements with specialty distributors in both Latin America and Asia.

Biomedical Market – Primary Human Cell Research Products

The global market for human cell systems for use in basic research is extremely large, with continuing anticipated growth. We believe that the following are the main drivers in the research market:

Our wholly-owned subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology, LLC (“LCT”) develops, manufactures and commercializes over 130 human cell culture products, including frozen human “primary” cells and the reagents (called “media”) needed to grow, maintain and differentiate the cells, in order to address this significant market opportunity. LCT’s scientists have used a technology called basal medium optimization to systematically produce optimized products designed to culture specific human cell types and to elicit specific cellular behaviors. These techniques also produce products that do not contain non-human animal proteins, a feature desirable to the research and therapeutic markets.

Each LCT cell product is quality tested for the expression of specific markers (to assure the cells are the correct type), proliferation rate, viability, morphology and absence of pathogens. Each cell system also contains associated donor information and all informed consent requirements are strictly followed. LCT’s research products are marketed and sold by its internal sales force, OEM partners and LCT brand distributors in Europe and Asia.

While we have continued to expand our sales and marketing efforts in order to increase revenue, to date we have generated limited revenue to support our core therapeutic research and development efforts.

Underpinning our research into the therapeutic properties of hpSC, we plan to expand its collection of parthenogenetic stem cell lines by creating and banking new clinical-grade hpSC lines at its Oceanside, California facility. We intend to create these new lines according to good tissue practices (“GTP”) and current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”) and use them as sources for our own internal development programs and to generate revenue through licensing opportunities. We are actively working with a number of in vitro fertility (“IVF”) clinics in the southern California region enrolling individuals who are willing to donate oocytes for research purposes in order to create new hpSC lines.

According to the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), stem cell research involves knowledge advancement for how tissues and organisms develop from a single cell and how healthy cells derived from a single precursor cell may replace damaged cells in adult organisms. Our scientists also investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, an area referred to as “regenerative medicine”. Today, donated organs and tissues are often used to replace ailing or destroyed tissue but the need for transplantable tissues and organs far exceeds the available supply. In regenerative medicine, stem cells are directed to differentiate into specific cell types as potentially renewable sources of replacement cells and tissues to treat a wide range of diseases.

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Human pluripotent stem cells have the potential to become any one of the 200 or so tissue types in the human body. A number of technical, ethical and legal hurdles need to be overcome before cells and tissues derived from pluripotent stem cells may be used for cell, tissue or organ repair. To realize the promise of cell-based therapies for disease treatment, a number of aspects need to be addressed, including:

We address these and other aspects in each of our therapeutic development programs and believe that our technology fundamentally may offer substantial clinical-commercial opportunity in the field of regenerative medicine. To this end we engage internationally proven immunogeneticists, geneticists, ethicists, regulatory experts, patent counsel and other experts to advance hpSC technology, the collection of pluripotent stem cells, and to advance our therapeutic applications.

During 2007 and 2008, an ISCO scientist published two seminal works in the peer reviewed journal “Cloning and Stem Cells” that announced and described the first intentional creation of human parthenogenetic stem cells. These papers form the basis of ISCO’s technology and its intellectual property. The importance of this work was illustrated by Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, Director of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and best known as the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned a sheep (“Dolly”) from an adult somatic cell who said “This study has used a novel approach to producing cells that may one day be used to treat large numbers of patients. While there is a great deal of discussion about the possibility of producing stem cells for each patient this approach to therapy is unrealistic because of the enormous costs involved. Rather it is likely that treatment of large numbers of patients by cell therapy will only be possible if methods are found using any one cell line to treat very large numbers of patients. This very exciting paper represents a significant step forward towards the use of such cells in cell therapy.” Sir Ian noted, “Immune reaction is one of the most serious problems facing the development of stem cell therapy, and cell lines of this type may enable us to treat a large number of patients without immune rejection, offering an enormous practical advantage. Further research is required to confirm that the cells produced in this way are able to replace cells that have been lost in human degenerative disease.”

Over the last few years we have further deepened our scientific understanding and technical capabilities with respect to the manipulation of our parthenogenetic stem cells and how they can be differentiated into distinct lineages such as retinal pigment epithelial cells, hepatocyte-like cells and neural-progenitors as well as larger scale structures such as cornea-like tissue.

History

ISCO was incorporated in Delaware on June 7, 2005 under the name BTHC III, Inc. to effect the reincorporation of BTHC III, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, mandated by a plan of reorganization. On December 28, 2006, pursuant to a Share Exchange Agreement, BTHC III, Inc. issued 33,156,502 shares of common stock, representing approximately 93.7% of the common stock outstanding immediately after the transaction, to the shareholders of International Stem Cell Corporation, a California corporation (“ISC California”), in exchange for all outstanding stock of ISC California. As a result of this transaction, ISC California became wholly-owned by ISCO. This transaction was accounted for as a reverse merger for accounting purposes. Consequently, the assets and liabilities and the historical operations that are reflected in our financial statements are those of ISC California and its subsidiary. On January 29, 2007, we changed our name to International Stem Cell Corporation.

ISC California was incorporated in California in June 2006 for the purpose of restructuring the business of Lifeline Cell Technology, LLC, (“LCT”) which was organized in California in August 2001. As a result of the restructuring, LCT became wholly-owned by ISC California. Lifeline Skin Care, Inc. was formed in the State of California on June 5, 2009 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ISCO California.

Our principal executive offices are located at 5950 Priestly Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008, and our telephone number is (760) 940-6383. Our corporate website address is www.internationalstemcell.com, Lifeline Cell Technology’s website address is www.lifelinecelltech.com, and Lifeline Skin Care’s website address is www.lifelineskincare.com. Our common stock is quoted on the OTC QB and trades under the symbol “ISCO”.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are Stem Cells?

Cells are the basic living units that make up humans, animals, plants and other organisms. Stem cells have two important characteristics that distinguish them from other types of cells. First, they can renew themselves for long periods of time. Second, they are unspecialized and under certain conditions can be induced to become cells with special functions such as metabolically active cells of the liver or transparent and protective cells of the eye. Until recently, scientists have worked with two major kinds of stem cells, embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and adult stem cells that each has different properties and characteristics. ISCO has developed a third category of stem cells named parthenogenetic stem cells (the hpSCs mentioned above) that promise to have significant therapeutic advantages relative to these other types.

What are Pluripotent Stem Cells?

Pluripotent stem cells are able to be differentiated or developed into virtually any other cell made in an organism. Both embryonic and parthenogenetic stem cells are pluripotent. Some scientists are exploring manipulation of adult cells into a potentially pluripotent stage. This type of stem cells is called induced pluripotent stem cells.

What are Embryonic Stem Cells?

Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos at an early stage of development, typically when they are in a structure of a small number of cells called the blastocyst. Embryonic stem cells are expanded in a laboratory cell culture process. Once cell lines are established, batches of them can be frozen and shipped to other laboratories for further culture and experimentation.

What are Adult Stem Cells?

An adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell found among differentiated cells in a tissue or organ. An adult stem cell can renew itself (generally to a lesser degree than can embryonic or parthenogenetic stem cells) and differentiate to a limited number of specialized cell types. These cells can be isolated from different tissues such as the bone marrow, fat tissue, and umbilical cord blood.

Why are Embryonic Stem Cells Important?

Human embryonic stem cells are able to differentiate into virtually any other cell in the body and to reproduce themselves almost indefinitely. In theory, if stem cells can be grown and their development directed in culture, it would be possible to grow cells for the treatment of specific diseases.

An early potential application of human embryonic stem cell technology may be in drug screening and toxicology testing.

The study of human development may also benefit from embryonic stem cell research in that understanding the events that occur at the first stages of development has potential clinical significance for preventing or treating birth defects, infertility and pregnancy loss. The earliest stages of human development have been difficult or impossible to study. Human embryonic stem cells offer insights into developmental events that cannot be studied directly in humans or fully understood through the use of animal models.

What are Parthenogenetic Stem Cells and how are they different?

Parthenogenetic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells created from unfertilized human eggs through a “parthenogenesis” process. Parthenogenesis requires that an unfertilized human egg be “activated” by chemical, physical or other means. Activation results in a non-viable “parthenote” from which pluripotent parthenogenetic stem cell lines can be derived. The cell lines used by ISCO are human parthenogenetic stem cells. Currently International Stem Cell Corporation owns the largest published collection of human parthenogenetic stem cell lines. Our research is based on perfecting proprietary techniques for deriving stem cells through parthenogenesis that result in stem cell lines that have the same capacity to become all cells found in the human body, but do not require use or destruction of a viable human embryo. Furthermore, parthenogenetic stem cells can be produced in a simplified (“homozygous”) form that enables each line to be an immunological match for millions of people. We do not obtain stem cells from fetal tissue nor does our technology require the use of discarded frozen human embryos.

Why Not Use Stem Cells Derived from Adults?

There are several approaches now in human clinical trials that utilize adult stem cells. However, these cells have limited availability and limited ability to proliferate in culture as well as risk of genetic manipulation. Therefore, obtaining clinically significant amounts of adult stem cells may prove to be difficult.

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Why is Stem Cell Research Controversial?

The sources of some types of stem cells cause social and religious controversy. For example, some scientists obtain stem cells from aborted fetal tissue, causing opposition from those opposed to abortion. Another controversial source of stem cells is residual human embryos (from fertilized human eggs) that remain after vitro fertilization procedures and are used to create embryonic stem cell lines.

Is Stem Cell Research Banned in the US?

Embryonic stem cell research, in general, is not banned in the US. Work by private organizations is not limited except by the restrictions applicable to all human research. In addition, Proposition 71 in California, which voters approved in November 2004, specifically allows state funds to be used for stem cell research.

Why Not Use the Currently “Approved” Embryonic Stem Cells Lines?

Most, if not all, human embryonic stem cell lines in research now have complex (“heterozygous”) immune compositions that are likely to cause the differentiated cells to be rejected by most patients.

Why Not use Adult Cells Reprogrammed to become Pluripotent Cells?

Induced pluripotent cells (“iPSs”) benefit from not being derived from human embryos but may face a number of other limitations such as uncertainty as to which genes are turned on and off, etc. Furthermore, like embryonic stem cells, iPSs have complex (“heterozygous”) immune compositions that are likely to cause the differentiated cells to be rejected by most patients.

Ethical Issues

The use of embryonic stem cells derived from fertilized human eggs has created an ethical debate in the US and around the world. However, since no fertilized human eggs are used in creating our stem cells and no human embryo is being created, used or destroyed, we expect that our parthenogenetic stem cells will be more readily accepted in circumstances where there are ethical concerns with using traditional embryonic stem cells.

We also have licensed worldwide rights to use a technology known as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (“SCNT”) to create human stem cells. The President’s Council on Bioethics, as reported in the publication “Reproduction and Responsibility—The Regulation of New Biotechnologies 2004”, has agreed on a series of recommendations for the use of such technology. Countries such as the United Kingdom have made similar recommendations.

Our Technology

We have developed a proprietary process based on parthenogenesis for the creation of a new type of stem cell that has shown to exhibit the pluripotency and proliferative benefits of embryonic stem cells yet avoid the use or destruction of fertilized human eggs or embryos. Furthermore, since parthenogenetic stem cells can be created with immunogenetically identical (“homozygous”) chromosome pairs, each line has potential to be an immune match for tens of millions of patients. If such cells were to be differentiated into functional mature cells they would, theoretically, be universally applicable across a wide range of medical conditions.

We also hold licenses to three other technologies to create human pluripotent stem cells: SCNT technology (as mentioned previously); a technology that may be useful to create induced pluripotent stem cells (“iPS”); and “single blastomere technology” which uses a single cell obtained from a fertilized blastocyst to create an embryonic stem cell line. Each of these technologies has unique cell therapy applications and provides us with a broad base of technologies from which we can operate in the future.

Our Facilities

We have built the capacity to manufacture human cells for use in pre-clinical and clinical trials and ultimately for therapeutic use through the completion of our cGMP manufacturing laboratories in Oceanside, California and Frederick, Maryland, many of which are currently cGMP ready. These laboratories are unique and designed specifically for the derivation of clinical-grade parthenogenetic stem cell lines for our stem cell bank and their differentiated derivatives for future clinical trials.

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Our Products

Therapeutic Product Candidates

Using our proprietary technologies and know-how, we are exploring and creating a range of cell types that may be useful in therapeutic treatments such as:

Each of these product candidates will require extensive preclinical and clinical development and may require specific unforeseen licensing rights obtained at substantial cost before regulatory approval may be achieved and the products sold for therapeutic use.

Skin Care Products

ISCO’s research scientists developed three skin care products, including Defensive Day Serum, Recovery Night Serum, and Firming Eye Complex, all using a patented extract derived from human parthenogenic stem cells and regulated as cosmetics. Defensive Serum contains sunscreen, along with unique stem cell-derived ingredients. The day serum not only protects the skin from the aging effects of harsh light, but it continues to nurture the skin’s collagen and fibroblasts to give noticeably firmer, smoother, younger-looking skin. The Recovery Night Serum is a nighttime therapy that complements the Defensive Day Serum. The night serum nurtures the skin’s collagen and elastin and contains ingredients to defend against damaging free radicals, to help build firmer, smoother, younger and healthier-looking skin. The Firming Eye Complex contains Vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, and matrixyl 3000 to replenish moisture and supply nutrients to the eye area, along with unique stem-cell derived ingredients that are designed to help firm and tighten the more fragile skin around the eyes, become less vulnerable to premature aging and stimulate collagen production.

Research Products

ISCO’s LCT subsidiary develops, manufactures and commercializes over 130 human cell culture products. These products include frozen human “primary” cells and stem cells and the reagents (called “media”) needed to grow, maintain and differentiate the cells. LCT’s scientists have used a technology called basal medium optimization to systematically produce optimized products designed to culture specific human cell types and to elicit specific cellular behaviors. These techniques also produce products that do not contain non-human animal proteins, a feature desirable to research and therapeutic markets. LCT frequently adds more products to its line. These human cell-based products are used domestically and internationally by research scientists in pharmaceutical, academic and government research organizations to study human disease and basic cell biology. LCT’s products eliminate the need for scientists to create their own cells, media and reagents or attempt to adapt “off the shelf” products to match specific experimental needs and they are superior to using animals or non-human animal cells as research tools because they are more relevant to the study of human disease. Strict quality assurance provides a high level of consistency and standardization of these products. LCT offers products that contain no animal products (“called “Xeno-free” products), allowing researchers to have better control of their experiments and to conduct research using products that ultimately can be more appropriate for therapeutic applications.

Often LCT’s research customers use our cell-based research products in their clinical research, eventually adapting them for therapeutic applications. If one of our research products is adopted by a successful producer of therapeutic cells, ISCO may become a supplier to the much larger therapeutic market through LCT’s products. This is based on the fact that once regulatory product submissions are made to the FDA and similar authorities, the media and reagents used during development cannot be changed easily after approval. These uses of LCT’s products bring opportunities to ISCO for future therapeutic products. Such is the case with LCT’s Fibrolife^® media, which CytoGraft (Novato, CA) is using as part of the process of creating its tissue engineered vascular grafts.

LCT products and applications include:

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Each LCT cell product is quality tested for the expression of specific markers (to assure the cells are the correct type), proliferation rate, viability, morphology and absence of pathogens. Each cell system also contains associated donor information and all informed consent requirements are strictly followed.

LCT brand products are currently distributed domestically through LCT’s direct sales force and in Europe through CellSystems GmbH. LCT has set up distribution contracts with distributors in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and India. In addition, LCT manufactures cell culture products under OEM contracts with American Type Culture Collection (“ATCC”), Millipore Corporation and Life Technology (formerly known as Invitrogen Corporation).

Our Markets

Therapeutic Markets

ISCO is currently pursuing a number of scientific development programs designed to lead to the creation of new therapeutic products. We anticipate that, with their superior immune-matching characteristics, our cells will be able to reduce or eliminate the need for immune-suppression drugs and the adverse reactions they trigger in patients.

Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease (“PD”) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases and the most common movement disorder in the US. Around five million people suffer from the disease worldwide. 50,000-60,000 new cases of PD are diagnosed each year in the US. Most people who get Parkinson’s are over 50 years of age. However, it could affect those who are younger. Currently, there is no effective treatment of PD.

Liver disease. According to the American Liver Foundation, one in ten persons is affected by liver disease and these numbers are on the rise (2007). Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis was the twelfth leading cause of total deaths in 2007 in the US (National Vital Statistics Reports). The only effective treatment currently available for people with liver failure is full or partial organ transplantation. Unfortunately, the demand for organs far exceeds the number of organs available. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, there are currently around 16,876 persons on the waiting list for a liver transplant in the US (February 27, 2012). Liver cell transplantation has been used in early stage clinical trials to treat patients with liver failure and genetically caused metabolic defects. This therapy has proven to be especially useful as a “bridge” to keep patients alive until they can receive a whole liver transplant, as well as an alternative to whole-organ transplantation in specific cases.

Diabetes. Diabetes is becoming more prevalent in the United States. From 1980 through 2008, the number of Americans with diabetes has more than tripled from 5.6 million to 18.1 million. Normally islet ß cells in the pancreas produce insulin to promote the uptake of glucose by cells in the body. Degeneration of pancreatic islet cells results in insufficient insulin in the bloodstream hence type 1 diabetes. While diabetics can be treated with insulin injections, this only provides intermittent glucose control. Transplantation of pancreatic islet cells from one person to another has been shown to relieve the suffering and side effects caused by current therapies. However, since each patient needs in the order of 500 million functional islet cells at any one time and the primary source of such cells is donation from other people, islet cell therapy is not practical today.

Corneal disease. According to the World Health Organization, 4.9 million people worldwide suffer blindness from corneal scarring and vascularization while ocular trauma and corneal ulcerations affect close to two million people. The back log is particularly bad in Asia where there is tremendous shortage of cadaver-derived corneas for cultural and other reasons. For example, India has about four million corneally blind according to Dr. Narinder Mehra, Professor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (“AIIMS”). According to the He Eye System, around two million Chinese are in need of a cornea transplant.

Retinal diseases. Diseases involving retinal degeneration include age-related macular degeneration (“AMD”) and retinitis pigmentosa (“RP”). These diseases are characterized by the death of critical photoreceptor cells called rods and cones. Photoreceptor death is due to an abnormality and/or to disruption or death of supportive cells called retinal pigment epithelial (“RPE”) cells. According to a 2004 study on Blindness and Blinding Diseases in the US published by the University of Washington, approximately 13 million Americans have signs of AMD, over 10 million suffer visual loss and over 200,000 are legally blind from the disease.

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Skin Care Market

Anti-aging represents a significant portion of the prestige facial skincare market. Despite the recessionary economy, sales of anti-aging products increased in 2011. Because consumers have limited discretionary spending, they are attracted to skincare products that are recommended by a professional whom they know and trust and have increased the frequency of their visits to spas, beauty institutes and doctors’ offices.

Innovation is present at all levels of the market. In order to make claims that their products can actually diminish the signs of aging, marketers are constantly looking for new combinations of specialty ingredients—compounds that provide a demonstrable cosmetic or therapeutic effect. The category of “bio-tech” skin care is a whole new opportunity that is just beginning to be developed.

Research Market

The research market for cell systems is made up of scientists performing basic and applied research in the biological sciences. Basic research involves the study of cell biology and biochemical pathways. Applied research involves drug discovery, vaccine development, clinical research and cell transplantation. The domestic market can be broken into three segments: (i) academic researchers in universities and privately-funded research organizations; (ii) government institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, the US Army, the US Environmental Protection Agency and others; and (iii) industrial organizations such as pharmaceutical companies and consumer product companies. It is estimated that the combined academic and government markets comprise approximately 40% of the total market and that the industrial segment comprises approximately 60%. We believe the following are the main drivers in the research market for commercial cell systems:

The global market for human cell systems for use in basic research exceeds several hundred million dollars annually with continuing anticipated growth.

Intellectual Property

Patents

In 2012 we were granted three patents covering different aspects of our proprietary internally-generated parthenogenetic technology. Two of the 2012 patents, granted in Israel and Russia, cover the process for obtaining human embryonic stem cells using parthenogenetically activated oocytes. We currently have patents for this technology in the United States, Singapore, and South Africa, with additional patent applications pending in other countries. The third patent, granted in the United States, covers the method for deriving endoderm cells using stem cells. Patent applications covering this technology are also pending outside the United States. We have pending patents covering homozygous parthenogenetic stem cells that can be immune matched to millions of persons and methods for deriving them. Other patents and pending patent applications include intellectual property concerning skin care formulations and methods of manufacturing stem-cell based skin care products, methods to differentiate stem cells and methods to produce three dimensional corneal tissue constructs.

In addition, we have obtained exclusive worldwide licenses to patents and patent applications from Advanced Cell Technologies, Inc. (“ACTC”). Our licensed and internally-generated patents provide the intellectual property rights we need to operate in the pluripotent stem cell field and to progress through the stages of creating a therapeutic stem cell product. These stages include the derivation, isolation, expansion and differentiation of stem cells. The intellectual property available to us enables us to create manufacturing methods that eliminate animal proteins in order to satisfy FDA requirements. In addition, we have rights to sell research products derived through our licensed intellectual property in order to generate income.

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The majority of the patents and applications have been filed in the US and in foreign countries through the Patent Corporation Treaty or by direct country filings in those jurisdictions deemed significant to our operations. We also have an exclusive license to the only patent issued by the US Patent & Trademark Office for the creation of human Embryonic Stem cells (“hES”) using somatic cell nuclear transfer (“SCNT”) for human therapeutic use. Our currently issued patents will expire at various times commencing in 2026.

We have protected our research products and branding through both patents and trademarks. Lifeline Skin Care has filed patent applications covering its proprietary formulations and methods of using stem cells to create skin care products. ISCO has registered trademarks on its company name, logo and various product names to protect its branding investment. Lifeline Cell Technology’s reagent formulations are protected as trade secrets.

The patentability of human cells in countries throughout the world reflects widely differing governmental attitudes. In the US, hundreds of patents covering human embryonic stem cells have already been granted, including those on which we rely. In certain countries in Europe, the European Patent Office currently appears to take the position that hES cells themselves are not patentable. ISCO believes that such restrictions are not appropriate when considering parthenogenetic stem cells and is working with patent legislators in Europe to create exemptions for human parthenogenetic stem cells. As a result, we plan to file internationally wherever feasible and focus our research strategy on cells that best fit the US and foreign country definitions of patentable cells and technologies.

License Agreements

In May 2005, we entered into three exclusive license agreements (“ACT IP,” “Infigen IP,” and “UMass IP” or collectively “ACTC agreements”) with Advanced Cell Technology (“ACTC “) for the production of therapeutic products in the fields of diabetes, liver disease, retinal disease and the creation of research products in all fields. In February 2013, each of these license agreements was amended and restated, pursuant to which we continue to have rights to ACTC’s human cell patent portfolio and non-exclusive rights to future developments in the area of diabetes and liver disease, as well as certain rights to patents covering Single Blastomere technology. A significant feature of the licensed Single Blastomere technology is a method of ethically obtaining human embryonic stem cells that allows us to isolate and differentiate hES stem cells directly from a “blastocyst” without harming the embryo. Using other licensed technology, the hES cells can be immediately differentiated into stem cells capable of expansion and differentiation into other types of cells. Under the terms of the amendments we have also acquired additional exclusive rights in the area of parthenogenesis and the use of parthenogenetically derived stem cells for treatment of human diseases.

The agreements with ACTC further provide that we are no longer obligated to make milestone payments or to meet any minimum research and development requirements. We will no longer pay any royalties pursuant to ACT IP or Infigen IP and our obligation to pay minimum annual royalties pursuant to UMass IP has been reduced to $75,000, payable semi-annually to ACTC.

The agreements continue until the expiration of the last valid claim within the licensed patent rights. Either party to each amended and restated license agreement may terminate the agreement for an uncured breach or we may terminate the agreements at any time with a 30 days written notice.

Research Agreements

Our scientific founder, Elena Revazova, MD, PhD, has conducted basic research at the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow, Russia. Through a research agreement, we have retained all intellectual property rights in the US and other major markets with respect to such research, while the Institute has retained such rights in Russia.

In 2012 and 2011, ISCO spent $3.6 million and $4.4 million on research and development activities, respectively. ISCO actively pursues sponsored research agreements with local and international research organizations and has established research collaborations with: The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla); the University of Wuerzburg; Wuerzburg Germany; and the Sankara Nethralaya Hospital (Chennai, India). We are in frequent negotiations to develop collaborative research agreements with additional domestic and international research organizations from both the public and private sector. These agreements allow us to team up with nationally and internationally known research scientists to study stem cell technologies developed or licensed by ISC for possible use in therapeutic or research fields. Dr. Jeanne Loring at The Scripps Research Institute is focused on characterizing parthenogenetic stem cells. Dr. Mueller at Wuerzburg University is studying the derivation of human neurons from parthenogenetic stem cells. In addition to the sponsored research agreements and collaborations mentioned above, we provide our stem cell lines to researchers at many universities and other research facilities. Ordinarily, the stem cell lines are provided without charge, but we retain the right to either an exclusive or non-exclusive right to use any technology that may be developed that is necessary in order for us to make therapeutic products based on the research that uses our cells.

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Competition

The development of therapeutic and diagnostic agents for human disease is intensely competitive. Pharmaceutical companies currently offer a number of pharmaceutical products to treat diabetes, liver diseases, retinal disease, corneal disease and other diseases for which our technologies may be applicable. Many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are investigating new drugs and therapeutic approaches for the same purposes, which may achieve new efficacy profiles, extend the therapeutic window for such products, alter the prognosis of these diseases, or prevent their onset. We believe that our therapeutic products, when and if successfully developed, will compete with these products principally on the basis of improved and extended efficacy and safety and their overall economic benefit to the health care system. We believe that our most significant competitors will be fully integrated pharmaceutical companies and more established biotechnology companies. Smaller companies may also be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies.

Some of our primary competitors in the development of stem cell therapies are Genzyme Corporation, StemCell, Advanced Cell Technology Inc., Aastrom Biosciences and ViaCyte. Our primary competitors in the skin care market are Obagi, Skinceuticals, SkinMedica, and Murad. In the field of research products, our primary competitors for stem cells, media and reagents are Lonza, Chemicon, Life Technologies (formerly Invitrogen), StemCell Technologies, Merck (formerly Millipore), BioTime and Specialty Media. In each of these areas many of our competitors have substantially greater resources and experience than we do.

Sales and Marketing

To date, sales of our research products have been derived primarily through our in-house sales force and via OEM contracts with American Tissue Culture Collection (“ATCC”), Millipore, Life Technology (formerly Invitrogen) and distribution contracts with our European distributor CellSystems Biotechnologies Vertrieb GmbH. During 2012, approximately 22% of our sales was from two customers. We anticipate increased sales in 2013 through our newly established distributors in Asia and India.

The skin care line was launched in November 2010 through the company’s own website—www.lifelineskincare.com. Since that time distribution has expanded to include destination and resort spas, dermatologists, plastic surgeons and international markets.

Government Regulation

Regulation by governmental authorities in the US and other countries is a significant factor in development, manufacture and marketing of our proposed therapeutic and skin care products and in our ongoing research and product development activities. The nature and extent to which such regulation applies to us will vary depending on the nature of any products that may be developed by us. We anticipate that many, if not all, of our proposed therapeutic products will require regulatory approval by governmental agencies prior to commercialization. In particular, human therapeutic products are subject to rigorous preclinical and clinical testing and other approval procedures of the FDA, and similar regulatory authorities in European and other countries. Various governmental statutes and regulations also govern or influence testing, manufacturing, safety, labeling, storage and recordkeeping related to such products and their marketing. The process of obtaining these approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and money, and there can be no guarantee that approvals will be granted.

We have made extensive progress in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals of research protocols, informed consent documents and donor protection procedures to obtain oocytes in the US for the production of our parthenogenetic stem cell bank. These approvals include: federally mandated Internal Review Board (IRB) and State of California required Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO) committee.

Currently the US government, though NIH appropriations restrictions, prohibits the use of federal funds in research involving parthenogenetic stem cells. Since we cannot receive federal funds for our stem cell research, we have decided to work with various foundations who are involved with stem cell research.

FDA Approval Process

Prior to commencement of clinical studies involving humans, preclinical testing of new pharmaceutical products is generally conducted on animals in the laboratory to evaluate the potential efficacy and safety of the product candidate. The results of these studies are submitted to the FDA as a part of an Investigational New Drug (“IND”) application, which must become effective before clinical testing in humans can begin. Typically, human clinical evaluation involves a time-consuming and costly three-phase process. In Phase 1, clinical trials are conducted with animal tests to establish safety followed with a small number of people to further assess safety and to evaluate the pattern of drug distribution and metabolism within the body. In Phase 2, clinical trials are conducted with groups of patients afflicted with a specific disease in order to determine preliminary efficacy, possible dosages and expanded evidence of safety. In some cases, an initial trial is conducted in diseased patients to assess both preliminary efficacy and preliminary safety and patterns of drug metabolism and distribution, in which case it is referred to as a Phase 1-2 trial. In Phase 3, large-scale, multi-center, comparative trials are conducted with patients afflicted with a target disease in order to provide enough data to demonstrate the efficacy and safety required by the FDA. The FDA closely monitors the progress of each of the three phases of clinical testing and may, at its discretion, re-evaluate, alter, suspend or terminate the testing based upon the data which have been accumulated to that point and its assessment of the risk/benefit ratio to the patient. Monitoring of all aspects of the study to minimize risks is a continuing process. All adverse events must be reported to the FDA.

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The results of the preclinical and clinical testing on a non-biologic drug and certain diagnostic drugs are submitted to the FDA in the form of a New Drug Application (“NDA”) for approval prior to commencement of commercial sales. In the case of vaccines or gene and cell therapies, the results of clinical trials are submitted as a Biologics License Application (“BLA”). In responding to a NDA or BLA, the FDA may grant marketing approval, request additional information or refuse to approve if the FDA determines that the application does not satisfy its regulatory approval criteria. There can be no assurance that approvals will be granted on a timely basis, if at all, for any of our proposed products.

European and Other Regulatory Approval

Whether or not FDA approval has been obtained, approval of a product by comparable regulatory authorities in Europe and other countries will likely be necessary prior to commencement of marketing the product in such countries. The regulatory authorities in each country may impose their own requirements and may refuse to grant an approval, or may require additional data before granting it, even though the relevant product has been approved by the FDA or another authority. As with the FDA, the regulatory authorities in the European Union (“EU”) and other developed countries have lengthy approval processes for pharmaceutical products. The process for gaining approval in particular countries varies, but generally follows a similar sequence to that described for FDA approval. In Europe, the European Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products provides a mechanism for EU-member states to exchange information on all aspects of product licensing. The EU has established a European agency for the evaluation of medical products, with both a centralized community procedure and a decentralized procedure, the latter being based on the principle of licensing within one member country followed by mutual recognition by the other member countries.

Other Regulations

We are also subject to various US federal, state, local and international laws, regulations and recommendations relating to the treatment of oocyte donors, the manufacturing environment under which human cells for therapy are derived, safe working conditions, laboratory and manufacturing practices and the use and disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances, including radioactive compounds and infectious disease agents, used in connection with our research work. We cannot accurately predict the extent of government regulation which might result from future legislation or administrative action.

Other Regulations for Lifeline Skin Care

The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (“FPLA”) provide the regulatory framework for selling cosmetics. The FD&C Act ensure that the products are not injurious to users under normal conditions of use. The FPLA insures that the labeling is not false or misleading and includes all relevant information in a prominent and conspicuous manner.

Safety and efficacy testing of the products is performed by independent third party testing organization.

Employees

In addition to our three executive officers, we utilize the services of 41 full-time staff members.

You should carefully consider the risks described below as well as other information provided to you in this document, including information in the section of this document entitled “Forward Looking Statements”. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected, the value of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our business is at an early stage of development and we may not develop therapeutic products that can be commercialized.

Our business is at an early stage of development. We do not have any products in late stage clinical trials. We are still in the early stages of identifying and conducting research on potential therapeutic products. Our potential therapeutic products will require significant research and development and preclinical and clinical testing prior to regulatory approval in the United States and other countries. We may not be able to obtain regulatory approvals, enter clinical trials for any of our product candidates, or commercialize any products. Our product candidates may prove to have undesirable and unintended side effects or other characteristics adversely affecting their safety, efficacy or cost effectiveness that could prevent or limit their use. Any product using any of our technology may fail to provide the intended therapeutic benefits, or achieve therapeutic benefits equal to or better than the standard of treatment at the time of testing or production.

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We have a history of operating losses, do not expect to be profitable in the near future and our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

We have not generated any profits since our entry into the biotechnology business and have incurred significant operating losses. We expect to incur additional operating losses for the foreseeable future and, as we increase our research and development activities, we expect our operating losses to increase significantly. We do not have any sources of significant or sustained revenues and may not have any in the foreseeable future.

We have expended substantial funds to develop our technologies, products and product candidates. Based on our financial condition, recurring losses and projected spending, which raise substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern, our independent registered public accounting firm included an explanatory paragraph in its report on our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2012 regarding this uncertainty. The inclusion of the going concern statement by our auditors may adversely affect our stock price and our ability to raise needed capital or enter into advantageous contractual relationships with third parties. If we were unable to continue as a going concern, the values we receive for our assets on liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements.

We will need additional capital to conduct our operations and develop our products and our ability to obtain the necessary funding is uncertain.

During 2012, we used a significant amount of cash to finance the continued development and testing of our product candidates, and we need to obtain significant additional capital resources in order to develop products going forward. Our burn rate as of the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012 was approximately $580,000 per month excluding capital expenditures and patent costs averaging $70,000 per month. We may not be successful in maintaining our normal operating cash flow and the timing of our capital expenditures may not result in cash flows sufficient to sustain our operations through 2013. If financing is not sufficient and additional financing is not available or available only on terms that are detrimental to our long-term survival, it could have a major adverse effect on our ability to continue to function. The timing and degree of any future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

Additional financing through strategic collaborations, public or private equity or debt financings or other financing sources may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Additional equity financing could result in significant dilution to our stockholders, and any debt financings will likely involve covenants restricting our business activities. Additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Further, if we obtain additional funds through arrangements with collaborative partners, these arrangements may require us to relinquish rights to some of our technologies, product candidates or products that we would otherwise seek to develop and commercialize on our own. If sufficient capital is not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our research or product development initiatives, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or business prospects.

We have limited clinical testing and regulatory capabilities, and human clinical trials are subject to extensive regulatory requirements, very expensive, time-consuming and difficult to design and implement. Our products may fail to achieve necessary safety and efficacy endpoints during clinical trials, which may limit our ability to generate revenues from therapeutic products.

Due to the relatively early stage of our therapeutic products and stem cell therapy-based systems, we have not yet invested significantly in clinical testing and regulatory capabilities, including for human clinical trials. We cannot assure you that we will be able to invest or develop resources for these capabilities successfully or as expediently as necessary. In particular, human clinical trials can be very expensive and difficult to design and implement, in part because they are subject to rigorous regulatory requirements. The clinical trial process is time consuming. We estimate that clinical trials of our product candidates will take at least several years to complete. Furthermore, failure can occur at any stage of the trials, and we could encounter problems that cause us to abandon or repeat clinical trials. The commencement and completion of clinical trials may be affected by several factors, including:

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In addition, we or the FDA may suspend our clinical trials at any time if it appears that we are exposing participants to unacceptable health risks or if the FDA finds deficiencies in our IND submissions or the conduct of these trials.

Patents held by other persons may result in infringement claims against us that are costly to defend and which may limit our ability to use the disputed technologies and prevent us from pursuing research and development or commercialization of potential products.

A number of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other companies, universities and research institutions have filed patent applications or have been issued patents relating to cell therapy, stem cells, and other technologies potentially relevant to or required by our expected products. We cannot predict which, if any, of such applications will issue as patents or the claims that might be allowed. We are aware that a number of companies have filed applications relating to stem cells. We are also aware of a number of patent applications and patents claiming use of stem cells and other modified cells to treat disease, disorder or injury.

If third party patents or patent applications contain claims infringed by either our licensed technology or other technology required to make and use our potential products and such claims are ultimately determined to be valid, we might not be able to obtain licenses to these patents at a reasonable cost, if at all, or be able to develop or obtain alternative technology. If we are unable to obtain such licenses at a reasonable cost, we may not be able to develop some products commercially. We may be required to defend ourselves in court against allegations of infringement of third party patents. Patent litigation is very expensive and could consume substantial resources and create significant uncertainties. An adverse outcome in such a suit could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, require disputed rights to be licensed from third parties, or require us to cease using such technology.

Our competition includes fully integrated biotechnology, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies that have significant advantages over us.

The market for therapeutic stem cell products is highly competitive. We expect that our most significant competitors will be fully integrated and more established pharmaceutical, biotechnology and cosmetic companies. These companies are developing stem cell-based products and they have significantly greater capital resources and research and development, manufacturing, testing, regulatory compliance, and marketing capabilities. Many of these potential competitors are further along in the process of product development and also operate large, company-funded research and development programs. As a result, our competitors may develop more competitive or affordable products, or achieve earlier patent protection or product commercialization than we are able to achieve. Competitive products may render any products or product candidates that we develop obsolete.

If we fail to meet our obligations under our license agreements, we may lose our rights to key technologies on which our business depends.

Our business depends in part on licenses from third parties. These third party license agreements impose obligations on us, such as payment obligations. If a licensor believes that we have failed to meet our obligations under a license agreement, the licensor could seek to limit or terminate our license rights, which could lead to costly and time consuming litigation and, potentially, a loss of the licensed rights. During the period of any such litigation, our ability to carry out the development and commercialization of potential products could be significantly and negatively affected. If our license rights were restricted or ultimately lost, our ability to continue our business based on the affected technology platform could be severely affected adversely.

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Significant delays or reductions in U.S. Government funding may negatively affect our results of operations.

We estimate that governmental funding, either directly or indirectly (through sponsorship of academic research), comprises approximately 40% of the market for basic and applied research in biological sciences, which is the target market for our primary human cell research products. The U.S. Government is considering significant changes in government spending and other governmental programs, with several automatic spending cuts being implemented. There are many variables in how these laws could be implemented that make it difficult to determine specific impacts on our customers, and we are unable to predict the impact that these automatic spending cuts would have on funding our customers receive. Additionally, U.S. Governmental programs are subject to annual congressional budget authorization and appropriation processes. However, whether through the automatic cuts or other decisions, long-term funding for certain programs in which our research product customers participate may be reduced, delayed or cancelled. In the event that governmental funding for any of our research product customers is reduced or delayed, our sales to those customers would likely suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Restrictive and extensive government regulation could slow or hinder our production of a cellular product.

The research and development of stem cell therapies is subject to and restricted by extensive regulation by governmental authorities in the United States and other countries. The process of obtaining FDA and other necessary regulatory approvals is lengthy, expensive and uncertain. We may fail to obtain the necessary approvals to continue our research and development, which would hinder our ability to manufacture or market any future product.

Research in the field of embryonic stem cells is currently subject to strict government regulations, and our operations could be restricted or outlawed by any legislative or administrative efforts impacting the use of nuclear transfer technology or human embryonic material.

Significant portions of our business are focused on human cell therapy, which includes the production of human differentiated cells from stem cells and involves human oocytes. Although our focus is on parthenogenetic stem cells derived from unfertilized oocytes, certain aspects of that work may involve the use of embryonic stem cells. Research utilizing embryonic stem cells is controversial, and currently subject to intense scrutiny, particularly in the area of the use of human embryonic material.

Federal law is not as restrictive regarding the use of federal funds for human embryonic cell research, commonly referred to as hES cell research as it once was. However, federal law does prohibit federal funding for creation of parthenogenetic stem cells. Our operations may also be restricted by future legislative or administrative efforts by politicians or groups opposed to the development of hES cell technology, parthenogenetic cell technology or nuclear transfer technology. Further, future legislative or administrative restrictions could, directly or indirectly, delay, limit or prevent the use of hES technology, parthenogenetic technology, or nuclear transfer technology, the use of human embryonic material, or the sale, manufacture or use of products or services derived from nuclear transfer technology or hES or parthenogenetic technology.

Restrictions on the use of human stem cells, and the ethical, legal and social implications of that research, could prevent us from developing or gaining acceptance for commercially viable products in these areas.

Although our stem cells are derived from unfertilized human eggs through a process called “parthenogenesis” that can produce cells suitable for therapy, but are believed to be incapable of producing a human being, such cells are nevertheless often incorrectly referred to as “embryonic” stem cells. Because the use of human embryonic stem cells gives rise to ethical, legal and social issues regarding the appropriate use of these cells, our research related to human parthenogenic stem cells could become the subject of adverse commentary or publicity and some political and religious groups may still raise opposition to our technology and practices. In addition, many research institutions, including some of our scientific collaborators, have adopted policies regarding the ethical use of human embryonic tissue, which, if applied to our procedures, may have the effect of limiting the scope of research conducted using our stem cells, thereby impairing our ability to conduct research in this field. In some states, use of embryos as a source of stem cells is prohibited.

To the extent we utilize governmental grants in the future, the governmental entities involved may retain certain rights in technology that we develop using such grant money and we may lose the revenues from such technology if we do not commercialize and utilize the technology pursuant to established government guidelines.

Certain of our licensors’ research has been or is being funded in part by government grants. Our research may also be government-funded in the future. In connection with certain grants, the governmental entity involved retains various rights in the technology developed with the grant. These rights could restrict our ability to fully capitalize upon the value of this research by reducing total revenues that might otherwise be available since such governmental rights may give the government the right to practice the invention without payment of royalties if we do not comply with applicable requirements.

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We rely on parthenogenesis, cell differentiation and other stem cell technologies that we may not be able to successfully develop, which may prevent us from generating revenues, operating profitably or providing investors any return on their investment.

We have concentrated our research on our parthenogenesis, cell differentiation and stem cell technologies, and our ability to operate profitably will depend on being able to successfully implement or develop these technologies for human applications. These are emerging technologies with, as yet, limited human applications. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully implement or develop our nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis, cell differentiation and other stem cell technologies or that these technologies will result in products or services with any significant commercial utility. We anticipate that the commercial sale of such products or services, and royalty/licensing fees related to our technology, would be an additional source of revenues.

The outcome of pre-clinical, clinical and product testing of our products is uncertain, and if we are unable to satisfactorily complete such testing, or if such testing yields unsatisfactory results, we may be unable to commercially produce our proposed products.

Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any potential human products, our products will be subjected to extensive pre-clinical and clinical testing to demonstrate their safety and efficacy in humans. The clinical trials of our prospective products, or those of our licensees or collaborators, may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy of such products at all, or to the extent necessary to obtain appropriate regulatory approvals. Similarly, the testing of such prospective products may not be completed in a timely manner, if at all, or only after significant increases in costs, program delays or both, all of which could harm our ability to generate revenues. In addition, our prospective products may not prove to be more effective for treating disease or injury than current therapies. Accordingly, we may have to delay or abandon efforts to research, develop or obtain regulatory approval to market our prospective products. The failure to adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a therapeutic product under development could delay or prevent regulatory approval of the product and could harm our ability to generate revenues, operate profitably or produce any return on an investment in us.

If we are unable to keep up with rapid technological changes in our field or compete effectively, we will be unable to operate profitably.

We are engaged in activities in the biotechnology field, which is characterized by extensive research efforts and rapid technological progress. If we fail to anticipate or respond adequately to technological developments, our ability to operate profitably could suffer. Research and discoveries by other biotechnology, agricultural, pharmaceutical or other companies may render our technologies or potential products or services uneconomical or result in products superior to those we develop. Similarly, any technologies, products or services we develop may not be preferred to any existing or newly developed technologies, products or services.

We may not be able to protect our proprietary technology, which could harm our ability to operate profitably.

The biotechnology, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical industries place considerable importance on obtaining patent and trade secret protection for new technologies, products and processes. Our success will depend, to a substantial degree, on our ability to obtain and enforce patent protection for our products, preserve any trade secrets and operate without infringing the proprietary rights of others. We cannot assure you that:

We are aware of certain patents that have been granted to others and certain patent applications that have been filed by others with respect to nuclear transfer and other stem cell technologies. The fields in which we operate have been characterized by significant efforts by competitors to establish dominant or blocking patent rights to gain a competitive advantage, and by considerable differences of opinion as to the value and legal legitimacy of competitors’ purported patent rights and the technologies they actually utilize in their businesses.

Considerable research in the areas of stem cells, cell therapeutics and regenerative medicine is being performed in countries outside of the United States, and a number of our competitors are located in those countries. The laws protecting intellectual property in some of those countries may not provide adequate protection to prevent our competitors from misappropriating our intellectual property.

Our business is highly dependent upon maintaining licenses with respect to key technology.

Although our primary focus relates to intellectual property we have developed internally, some of the patents we utilize are licensed to us by Advanced Cell Technology, which has licensed some of these from other parties, including the University of Massachusetts.

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These licenses are subject to termination under certain circumstances. The loss of any of such licenses, or the conversion of such licenses to non-exclusive licenses, could harm our operations and/or enhance the prospects of our competitors.

Although our licenses with Advanced Cell Technology allow us to cure any defaults under the underlying licenses to them and to take over the patents and patents pending in the event of default by Advanced Cell Technology, the cost of such remedies could be significant and we might be unable to adequately maintain these patent positions. If so, such inability could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Cybersecurity breaches could expose us to liability, damage our reputation, compromise our confidential information or otherwise adversely affect our business.

We maintain sensitive company data on our computer networks, including our intellectual property and proprietary business information, as well as certain personal information regarding customers who purchase our skin care products online. We face a number of threats to our networks from unauthorized access, security breaches and other system disruptions. Despite our security measures, our infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or other disruptive problems. Any such security breach may compromise information stored on our networks and may result in significant data losses or theft of our intellectual property, proprietary business information or our customers’ personally identifiable information. A cybersecurity breach could hurt our reputation by adversely affecting the perception of customers and potential customers of the security of their orders and personal information. In addition, a cybersecurity attack could result in other negative consequences, including disruption of our internal operations, increased cyber security protection costs, lost revenues or litigation.

Certain of our technology may not be subject to protection through patents, which leaves us vulnerable to theft of our technology.

Certain parts of our know-how and technology are not patentable or are trade secrets. To protect our proprietary position in such know-how and technology, we intend to require all employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality and invention ownership agreements with us. These agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use or disclosure. Further, in the absence of patent protection, competitors who independently develop substantially equivalent technology may harm our business.

We depend on our collaborators to help us develop and test our proposed products, and our ability to develop and commercialize products may be impaired or delayed if collaborations are unsuccessful.

Our strategy for the development, clinical testing and commercialization of our proposed products requires that we enter into collaborations with corporate partners, licensors, licensees and others. We are dependent upon the subsequent success of these other parties in performing their respective responsibilities and the continued cooperation of our partners. Our collaborators may not cooperate with us or perform their obligations under our agreements with them. We cannot control the amount and timing of our collaborators’ resources that will be devoted to our research and development activities related to our collaborative agreements with them. Our collaborators may choose to pursue existing or alternative technologies in preference to those being developed in collaboration with us.

Under agreements with collaborators, we may rely significantly on such collaborators to, among other things:

The development and commercialization of potential products will be delayed if collaborators fail to conduct these activities in a timely manner, or at all. In addition, our collaborators could terminate their agreements with us and we may not receive any development or milestone payments. If we do not achieve milestones set forth in the agreements, or if our collaborators breach or terminate their collaborative agreements with us, our business may be materially harmed.

Our reliance on the activities of our non-employee consultants, research institutions, and scientific contractors, whose activities are not wholly within our control, may lead to delays in development of our proposed products.

We rely extensively upon and have relationships with scientific consultants at academic and other institutions, some of whom conduct research at our request, and other consultants with expertise in clinical development strategy or other matters. These consultants are not our employees and may have commitments to, or consulting or advisory contracts with, other entities that may limit their availability to us. We have limited control over the activities of these consultants and, except as otherwise required by our collaboration and consulting agreements to the extent they exist, can expect only limited amounts of their time to be dedicated to our activities. These research facilities may have commitments to other commercial and non-commercial entities. We have limited control over the operations of these laboratories and can expect only limited amounts of time to be dedicated to our research goals.

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We may be subject to litigation that will be costly to defend or pursue and uncertain in its outcome.

Our business may bring us into conflict with our licensees, licensors or others with whom we have contractual or other business relationships, or with our competitors or others whose interests differ from ours. If we are unable to resolve those conflicts on terms that are satisfactory to all parties, we may become involved in litigation brought by or against us. That litigation is likely to be expensive and may require a significant amount of management’s time and attention, at the expense of other aspects of our business. The outcome of litigation is always uncertain, and in some cases could include judgments against us that require us to pay damages, enjoin us from certain activities, or otherwise affect our legal or contractual rights, which could have a significant adverse effect on our business.

We may not be able to obtain third party patient reimbursement or favorable product pricing, which would reduce our ability to operate profitably.

Our ability to successfully commercialize certain of our proposed products in the human therapeutic field may depend to a significant degree on patient reimbursement of the costs of such products and related treatments at acceptable levels from government authorities, private health insurers and other organizations, such as health maintenance organizations. Reimbursement in the United States or foreign countries may not be available for any products we may develop, and, if available, may be decreased in the future. Also, reimbursement amounts may reduce the demand for, or the price of, our products with a consequent harm to our business. We cannot predict what additional regulation or legislation relating to the health care industry or third party coverage and reimbursement may be enacted in the future or what effect such regulation or legislation may have on our business. If additional regulations are overly onerous or expensive, or if health care related legislation makes our business more expensive or burdensome than originally anticipated, we may be forced to significantly downsize our business plans or completely abandon our business model.

Our products may be expensive to manufacture, and they may not be profitable if we are unable to control the costs to manufacture them.

Our products may be significantly more expensive to manufacture than other therapeutic products currently on the market today. We hope to substantially reduce manufacturing costs through process improvements, development of new science, increases in manufacturing scale and outsourcing to experienced manufacturers. If we are not able to make these, or other improvements, and depending on the pricing of the product, our profit margins may be significantly less than that of other therapeutic products on the market today. In addition, we may not be able to charge a high enough price for any cell therapy product we develop, even if they are safe and effective, to make a profit. If we are unable to realize significant profits from our potential product candidates, our business would be materially harmed.

To be successful, our proposed products must be accepted by the health care community, which can be very slow to adopt or unreceptive to new technologies and products.

Our proposed products and those developed by our collaborative partners, if approved for marketing, may not achieve market acceptance since hospitals, physicians, patients or the medical community in general may decide not to accept and utilize these products. The products that we are attempting to develop represent substantial departures from established treatment methods and will compete with a number of more conventional therapies manufactured and marketed by major pharmaceutical companies. The degree of market acceptance of any of our developed products will depend on a number of factors, including:

If the healthcare community does not accept our products for any of the foregoing reasons, or for any other reason, our business would be materially harmed.

We depend on key personnel for our continued operations and future success, and a loss of certain key personnel could significantly hinder our ability to move forward with our business plan.

Because of the specialized nature of our business, we are highly dependent on our ability to identify, hire, train and retain highly qualified scientific and technical personnel for the research and development activities we conduct or sponsor. The loss of one or more

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key executive officers, or scientific officers, would be significantly detrimental to us. In addition, recruiting and retaining qualified scientific personnel to perform research and development work is critical to our success. Our anticipated growth and expansion into areas and activities requiring additional expertise, such as clinical testing, regulatory compliance, manufacturing and marketing, will require the addition of new management personnel and the development of additional expertise by existing management personnel. In the past year we have had significant turnover in our management personnel, and there is intense competition for qualified personnel in the areas of our present and planned activities. Accordingly, we may not be able to continue to attract and retain the qualified personnel, which would adversely affect the development of our business.

We may not have sufficient product liability insurance, which may leave us vulnerable to future claims we will be unable to satisfy.

The testing, manufacturing, marketing and sale of human therapeutic products entail an inherent risk of product liability claims. We currently have a limited amount of product liability insurance, which may not be adequate to meet potential product liability claims. In the event we are forced to expend significant funds on defending product liability actions, and in the event those funds come from operating capital, we will be required to reduce our business activities, which could lead to significant losses. Adequate insurance coverage may not be available in the future on acceptable terms, if at all. If available, we may not be able to maintain any such insurance at sufficient levels of coverage and any such insurance may not provide adequate protection against potential liabilities. Whether or not a product liability insurance policy is obtained or maintained in the future, any product liability claim could harm our business or financial condition.

Risks Related to the Securities Markets and Our Capital Structure

Stock prices for biotechnology companies have historically tended to be very volatile.

Stock prices and trading volumes for many biotechnology companies fluctuate widely for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following factors, some of which may be unrelated to their businesses or results of operations:

This market volatility, as well as general domestic or international economic, market and political conditions, could materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Two of our executive officers and directors can significantly influence our direction and policies, and their interests may be adverse to the interests of our other stockholders.

As of March 15, 2013, Dr. Andrey Semechkin, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Dr. Ruslan Semechkin, Vice President of International Stem Cell and a director, beneficially own approximately 39% of our outstanding shares of common stock, including shares issuable upon conversion of all the outstanding shares of our Series D and Series G Preferred Stock and shares issuable upon exercise of options and warrants. As a result of their holdings and the rights, preferences and privileges of those series of preferred stock, Dr. Andrey Semechkin and Dr. Ruslan Semechkin may appoint and remove two of our six directors, and propose candidates for nomination of up to two additional directors, and therefore will be able to significantly influence the election of our Board of Directors. They may also prevent corporate transactions (such as a merger, consolidation, a sale of all or substantially all of our assets or a financing transaction) that may be favorable from the standpoint of our other stockholders or they may cause a transaction that our other stockholders may view as unfavorable.

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The application of the “penny stock” rules to our common stock could limit the trading and liquidity of our common stock, adversely affect the market price of our common stock and increase stockholder transaction costs to sell those shares.

As long as the trading price of our common stock is below $5.00 per share, the open market trading of our common stock will be subject to the “penny stock” rules, unless we otherwise qualify for an exemption from the “penny stock” definition. The “penny stock” rules impose additional sales practice requirements on certain broker-dealers who sell securities to persons other than established customers and accredited investors (generally those with assets in excess of $1,000,000 or annual income exceeding $200,000 or $300,000 together with their spouse). These regulations, if they apply, require the delivery, prior to any transaction involving a penny stock, of a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the associated risks. Under these regulations, certain brokers who recommend such securities to persons other than established customers or certain accredited investors must make a special written suitability determination regarding such a purchaser and receive such purchaser’s written agreement to a transaction prior to sale. These regulations may have the effect of limiting the trading activity of our common stock, reducing the liquidity of an investment in our common stock and increasing the transaction costs for sales and purchases of our common stock as compared to other securities.

The rights of holders of our common stock are subordinate to significant rights, preferences and privileges of our existing three series of preferred stock, and to any additional series of preferred stock created in the future.

Under the authority granted by our Certificate of Incorporation, our Board of Directors has established three separate series of outstanding preferred stock, including Series B, Series D and Series G Preferred Stock, which have various rights and preferences senior to the shares of common stock. Shares of our existing preferred stock are also entitled to enhanced voting rights and liquidation preferences. As a result of the various voting rights, the holders of our existing preferred stock may be able to block the proposed approval of various corporate actions, which could prevent us from achieving strategic or other goals dependent on such actions. As a result of the liquidation preferences, in the event that we voluntarily or involuntary liquidate, dissolve or windup our affairs (including as a result of a merger), the holders of our preferred stock would be entitled to receive stated amounts per share, including any accrued and unpaid dividends, before any distribution of assets or merger consideration is made to holders of our common stock. Additionally, these shares of preferred stock may be converted, at the option of the holders, into common stock at rates that may be adjusted, for the benefit of holders of preferred stock, if we sell equity securities below the then existing conversion prices. Any such adjustments would compound the potential dilution suffered by holders of common stock if we issue additional securities at prices below the current conversion prices (ranging from $0.20 to $0.38 per share). Additionally, subject to the consent of the holders of our existing preferred stock, our Board of Directors has the power to issue additional series of preferred stock and to designate, as it deems appropriate (subject to the rights of the holders of the current series of preferred stock), the special dividend, liquidation or voting rights of the shares of those additional series. The creation and designation of any new series of preferred stock could adversely affect the voting power, dividend, liquidation and other rights of holders of our common stock and, possibly, any other class or series of stock that is then in existence.

The market price for our common stock may be particularly volatile given our status as a relatively unknown company with a limited operating history and lack of profits, which could lead to wide fluctuations in our share price. The price at which stockholders purchase shares of our common stock may not be indicative of the price of our common stock that will prevail in the trading market.

The market for our common stock may be characterized by significant price volatility when compared to seasoned issuers, and we expect that our stock price could continue to be more volatile than a seasoned issuer for the indefinite future. The potential volatility in our share price is attributable to a number of factors. First, there has been limited trading in our common stock. As a consequence of this lack of liquidity, any future trading of shares by our stockholders may disproportionately influence the price of those shares in either direction. Second, we are a speculative or “risky” investment due to our limited operating history and lack of profits to date, and uncertainty of future market acceptance for our potential products. As a consequence of this enhanced risk, more risk averse investors may, under the fear of losing all or most of their investment in the event of negative news or lack of progress, be more inclined to sell their shares on the market more quickly and at greater discounts than would be the case with the stock of a seasoned issuer. Many of these factors will be beyond our control and may decrease the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. We cannot make any predictions or projections as to what the prevailing market price for our common stock will be at any time or as to what effect that the sale of shares or the availability of shares for sale at any time will have on the prevailing market price.

In addition, the market price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to:

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Shares eligible for future sale may adversely affect the market.

From time to time, certain of our stockholders may be eligible to sell all or some of their shares of common stock by means of ordinary brokerage transactions in the open market pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, subject to certain limitations. In general, pursuant to Rule 144, a stockholder (or stockholders whose shares are aggregated) who is not an affiliate of our company and who has satisfied a six month holding period may, as long as we are current in our required filings with the SEC, sell securities without further limitation. Rule 144 also permits, under certain circumstances, the sale of securities, without any limitations, by a non-affiliate of our company who has satisfied a one year holding period. Affiliates of our company who have satisfied a six month holding period may sell securities subject to limitations. Any substantial sale of our common stock pursuant to Rule 144 or pursuant to any resale prospectus may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. Currently, a substantial amount of our securities are either free trading or subject to the release of trading restrictions under the six month or one year holding periods of Rule 144.

Certain provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation and Delaware law may make it more difficult for a third party to affect a change-in-control.

Our Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the Board of Directors to issue up to 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock and our Board of Directors has created and issued shares of three series of preferred stock that remain outstanding, including Series B, Series D and Series G Preferred Stock. The terms of the Series B, Series D and Series G Preferred Stock include, among other things, voting rights on particular matters (for example, with respect to the Series D Preferred Stock, restricting our ability to undergo a change in control or merge with, or sell assets to, a third party), preferences as to dividends and liquidation, and conversion rights. These preferred stock rights diminish the rights of holders of our common stock, and therefore could reduce the value of such common stock. In addition, as long as shares of our Series B, Series D and Series G Preferred Stock remain outstanding, or if our Board creates and issues additional shares of preferred stock in the future with rights that restrict our ability to merge with, or sell assets to, a third party, it could make it more difficult, delay, discourage, prevent or make it more costly to acquire the Company or affect a change-in-control.

The sale or issuance of a substantial number of shares may adversely affect the market price for our common stock.

The future sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could significantly and negatively affect the market price for our common stock. We expect that we will likely issue a substantial number of shares of our capital stock in financing transactions in order to fund our operations and the growth of our business. Under these arrangements, we may agree to register the shares for resale soon after their issuance. We may also continue to pay for certain goods and services with equity, which would dilute our current stockholders. Also, sales of the shares issued in this manner could negatively affect the market price of our stock.

The sale of our common stock to Aspire Capital may cause substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and the sale of the shares of common stock acquired by Aspire Capital could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

On December 9, 2010, the Company entered into a purchase agreement with Aspire Capital which provided that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth therein, Aspire Capital is committed to purchase up to an aggregate of $25.0 million of our common stock. As of March 15, 2013, we have sold Aspire Capital 10,533,333 shares of common stock for aggregate proceeds of $6,206,000, and we may sell Aspire Capital up to an additional $18,794,000 of our common stock in the future. Pursuant to the purchase agreement, the number of shares of common stock that we may designate Aspire Capital to purchase is dependent on the closing price of our common stock on the date that we provide Aspire Capital with a purchase notice directing it to purchase shares, and the purchase price per share is the lower of (i) the lowest sale price for the common stock on the date of sale or (ii) the arithmetic average of the three lowest closing sale prices of our common stock during the 12 consecutive business days preceding the date of sale. If we elect to sell additional shares to Aspire Capital under the Common Stock Purchase Agreement, depending upon market liquidity at the time, it may cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.

After Aspire Capital has acquired additional shares of our common stock under the purchase agreement, it may sell all, some or none of such shares. In connection with the purchase agreement, the Company also entered into a registration rights agreement with Aspire Capital, dated December 9, 2010 that provides, among other things, that the Company will register the resale of all shares acquired by Aspire Capital under the purchase agreement. Therefore, sales to Aspire Capital by us pursuant to the purchase agreement may result in substantial dilution to the interests of other holders of our common stock. The sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock to Aspire Capital pursuant to the purchase agreement, or anticipation of such sales, as well as the resale of such shares by Aspire Capital, could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect sales. However, we have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our shares to Aspire Capital, and we may terminate the purchase agreement at any time at our discretion without any cost to us.

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The exercise of outstanding options and warrants to acquire shares of our common stock would cause additional dilution which could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

In the past, we have issued options and warrants to acquire shares of our common stock. At March 15, 2013, there were 11,662,500 warrants, and 15,811,628 vested and 6,920,565 non-vested stock options outstanding, and we may issue additional options, warrants and other types of equity in the future as part of stock-based compensation, capital raising transactions, technology licenses, financings, strategic licenses or other strategic transactions. To the extent these options and warrants are ultimately exercised, existing common stockholders would experience additional dilution which may cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Limitations on director and officer liability and indemnification of our officers and directors by us may discourage stockholders from bringing suit against a director.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide, with certain exceptions as permitted by governing state law, that a director or officer shall not be personally liable to us or our stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for acts or omissions which involve intentional misconduct, fraud or knowing violation of law, or unlawful payments of dividends. These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing suit against a director for breach of fiduciary duty and may reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation brought by stockholders on our behalf against a director. In addition, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may provide for mandatory indemnification of directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by governing state law.

Compliance with the rules established by the SEC pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is complex. Failure to comply in a timely manner could adversely affect investor confidence and our stock price.

Rules adopted by the SEC pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 require us to perform an annual assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting and certify the effectiveness of those controls. The standards that must be met for management to assess the internal controls over financial reporting now in effect are complex, costly and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation to meet the detailed standards. We may encounter problems or delays in completing activities necessary to make an assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting. If we cannot perform the assessment or certify that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective investor confidence and share value may be negatively impacted.

We do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future on our common stock.

We have not historically paid cash dividends on our common stock, and we do not plan to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

None

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We have established our primary research facility in 8,215 square feet of leased office and laboratory space in Oceanside, California. Our lease for this facility expires in August 2016. The base rent as of December 31, 2012 was $8,338 per month. The facility has leasehold improvements which include cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) level clean rooms designed for the derivation of clinical-grade stem cells and their differentiated derivatives, research laboratories for our stem cell differentiation studies and segregated rooms for biohazard control and containment of human donor tissue. The cGMP clean rooms and the associated quality systems provide a “pilot manufacturing laboratory” that we believe will be uniquely suited for the creation, culture and differentiation of parthenogenetic stem cells for early stage clinical trials. We believe that this facility is well suited to meet our research, development and pre-clinical and clinical therapeutic production needs. However, we will need larger cGMP manufacturing laboratories should any one of our therapeutic cells move to larger clinical trials or full-scale therapeutic manufacture. The monthly base rent will increase by 3% annually on the anniversary date of the agreement.

In addition to the primary research facility lease, we entered into a lease with S Real Estate Holding LLC to allow the Company to expand into new corporate offices located in Carlsbad, California. The new building is used for administrative purposes, but could also be used for research and development purposes if such space is needed in the future. The lease initially covered approximately 4,653 square feet, starting on March 1, 2011 and was amended to cover approximately 8,199 square feet effective July 1, 2011. The lease expires on February 29, 2016, subject to the Company’s right to extend the term for up to five additional years. The Company began paying rent at an initial rate of $5,118 per month and the rate was amended to $9,018 effective July 1, 2011. The base rent as of December 31, 2012 was $9,289 per month. The monthly base rent will increase by 3% annually on the anniversary date of the agreement. The Company is also obligated to pay a portion of the utilities for the building and increases in property tax and insurance.

During 2010 we utilized a 3,240 square foot laboratory in Walkersville, Maryland. Our lease for this facility expired in March 2011, and we moved into a new manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland which we use for laboratory and administration purposes. The base rent as of December 31, 2012 was $11,306. The initial term of the lease ends in December 2015 and there is an option for an additional five years. The laboratory is being used to develop and manufacture our research products and the administration facility will be used for sales and marketing and general administration purposes. Our manufacturing laboratory space has clean rooms and is fitted with the necessary water purification, refrigeration, labeling equipment and standard manufacturing equipment to manufacture, package, store, and distribute media products. There is also a quality control and cell culture laboratory outfitted with the necessary cell isolation equipment, incubators, microscopes and standard cell culture equipment necessary to isolate and culture cells and conduct quality control tests to produce superior cell culture products.

None.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Information

Our common stock is approved for quotation on the OTC QB under the trading symbol “ISCO”. The OTC QB is a regulated quotation service that displays real-time quotes, last-sale prices and volume information in over-the-counter equity securities. The OTC QB securities are traded by a community of market makers that enter quotes and trade reports. This market is limited in comparison to an exchange and any prices quoted may not be a reliable indication of the value of our common stock.

As of March 15, 2013, we had 111,713,815 shares of common stock outstanding, and approximately 647 holders of record of our common stock, and we had 7,300,043 shares of preferred stock outstanding, and six holders of record of our preferred stock, with 5,300,043 shares of preferred stock being convertible into 38,973,200 shares of common stock.

The quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not reflect actual transactions. The high and low sales prices of our common stock, as reported by OTC QB for each quarter during fiscal years 2012 and 2011, are reported below:

Dividends

Our Board of Directors determines any payment of dividends. We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We do not expect to authorize the payment of cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future decision with respect to dividends will depend on our future earnings, operations, capital requirements and availability, restrictions in future financing agreements and other business and financial considerations.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

See Note 11, Subsequent Events to the consolidated financial statements.

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Equity Compensation Plan Information

Not required.

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, expectations and intentions. Our actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. This discussion should not be construed to imply that the results discussed herein will necessarily continue into the future, or that any conclusion reached herein will necessarily be indicative of actual operating results in the future. Such discussion represents only the best present assessment by our management.

Business Overview

We are a development-stage biotechnology company focused on our principal operations of therapeutic and biomedical product development with multiple long-term therapeutic opportunities and two revenue-generating businesses offering potential for increased future revenue.

To date, the Company has generated limited incidental revenues to support its core therapeutic research and development efforts.

Our products are based on multi-decade experience with human cell culture and a proprietary type of pluripotent stem cells, human parthenogenetic stem cells (“hpSCs”). Our hpSCs are comparable to human embryonic stem cells (“hESCs”) in that they have the potential to be differentiated into many different cells in the human body. However, the derivation of hpSCs does not require the use of fertilized eggs or the destruction of viable human embryos and they offer the potential for creation of immune-matched cells and tissues that are less likely to be rejected following transplantation into people across various ethnic groups. We have facilities and manufacturing protocols that comply with the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and other regulatory authorities.

Market Opportunity and Growth Strategy

Therapeutic Market – Clinical Applications of hpSCs for Disease Treatment. With respect to therapeutic research and product candidates, we focus on applications where cell and tissue therapy is already proven but where there is an insufficient supply of safe and functional cells or tissue. We believe that the most promising potential clinical applications of our technology are: 1) Parkinson’s disease; 2) metabolic/liver diseases; and 3) corneal blindness. Using our proprietary technologies and know-how, we are creating

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neuronal cells from hpSCs as a potential treatment of PD, liver cells from hpSCs that may be able to treat a variety of hepatic and metabolic liver diseases and corneal like structures from hpSCs that may be suitable for cornea transplantation and corneal healing in humans.

Cosmeceutical Market – Skin Care Products. Our wholly-owned subsidiary Lifeline Skin Care, Inc. (“LSC”) develops, manufactures and markets cosmetic skin care products using an extract derived from our pluripotent stem cells. These proprietary products include a Defensive Day Serum, Recovery Night Serum and Firming Eye Complex, all of which include our patented stem cell extract and are regulated as cosmetics. LSC’s products are regulated as cosmetics. Lifeline Skin Care products are sold nationally and internationally through a branded website; through professional channels (including dermatologists; plastic surgeons; medical, day and resort spas,) and distributors.

Biomedical Market – Primary Human Cell Research Products. Our wholly-owned subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology, LLC (“LCT”) develops, manufactures and commercializes over 130 human cell culture products, including frozen human “primary” cells and the reagents (called “media”) needed to grow, maintain and differentiate the cells needed for human cell systems in the research market. LCT’s scientists have used a technology called basal medium optimization to systematically produce optimized products designed to culture specific human cell types and to elicit specific cellular behaviors. These techniques also produce products that do not contain non-human animal proteins, a feature desirable to the research and therapeutic markets. Each LCT cell product is quality tested for the expression of specific markers (to assure the cells are the correct type), proliferation rate, viability, morphology and absence of pathogens. Each cell system also contains associated donor information and all informed consent requirements are strictly followed. LCT’s research products are marketed and sold by its internal sales force, OEM partners and LCT brand distributors in Europe and Asia.

While we have continued to expand our sales and marketing efforts in order to increase revenue, to date we have generated limited revenue to support our core therapeutic research and development efforts.

We were originally incorporated in Delaware on June 7, 2005 as BTHC III, Inc. to effect the reincorporation of BTHC III, LLC, a Texas limited liability company, mandated by a plan of reorganization. On December 28, 2006, pursuant to a Share Exchange Agreement, BTHC III, Inc. issued 33,156,502 shares of common stock, representing approximately 93.7% of the common stock outstanding immediately after the transaction, to the shareholders of International Stem Cell Corporation, a California corporation (“ISC California”), in exchange for all outstanding stock of ISC California. This transaction is being accounted for as a “reverse merger” for accounting purposes. Consequently, the assets and liabilities and the historical operations that are reflected in our financial statements are those of ISC California.

ISC California was incorporated in California in June 2006 for the purpose of restructuring the business of Lifeline Cell Technology, LLC, which was organized in California in August 2001. As a result of the restructuring, LCT became wholly-owned by ISC California, which in turn is wholly-owned by us. LCT is responsible for developing, manufacturing and distributing all of its products.

Lifeline Skin Care, Inc. was formed in the State of California on June 5, 2009 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ISC California. LSC creates cosmetic skin care products using an ingredient derived from our human cell technologies. LSC currently sells its products globally through a branded website, domestic and international distributors, physicians and professional spas.

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2012 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2011

Revenues

We are considered a development stage company, and as such our revenues are limited and not predictable. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2012, totaled $4.57 million, compared to $4.53 million in 2011. LCT contributed $2.38 million or 52% of total revenue in 2012, compared to $2.08 million or 47% of total revenue in 2011. The increase of $296,000 or 14% in LCT’s revenue for 2012 was driven primarily by higher sales to OEM customers and international distributors. LSC’s revenue of $2.19 million in 2012 accounted for 48% of total revenue, compared to $2.45 million or 53% of total revenue in 2011. Revenue decreased by $261,000 or 11% due to higher discounts granted as part of our strategic efforts to expand and diversify sources of revenue.

Cost of Sales

Cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $1.27 million or 28% of revenue, compared to $1.62 million or 36% of revenue in 2011. The favorable reduction in cost of sales as a percentage of revenue in 2012 is primarily attributable to improvements in the manufacturing and supply chain management pertaining to both LSC and LCT.

Cost of sales reflects direct costs including salaries and benefits related to manufacturing, third party manufacturing costs, materials, general laboratory supplies and an allocation of overhead. We aim to continue refining our manufacturing processes and supply chain management to further improve the cost of sales as a percentage of revenue for both LCT and LSC.

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Research and Development (“R&D”)

Research and development expenses were $3.60 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $4.43 million in 2011. The decrease of approximately $835,000 or 19% in R&D expense is principally due to reductions in stock-based compensation expense of $434,000, consulting expenses of $368,000 associated with various research projects, laboratory supplies and laboratory facility-related expenses of $197,000, personnel-related spending of $137,000, and travel expenses of $25,000. The decrease was partially offset by higher stem cell line research and testing expenses of $323,000.

R&D is focused on the development of treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD), metabolic liver diseases (such as Crigler-Najjar syndrome, (CNS) and Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD)), diseases of the eye and the creation of new cGMP grade human parthenogenetic stem cell lines. These projects are long-term investments that involve developing both new stem cell lines and new differentiation techniques that can provide higher purity populations of functional cells. We do not expect these projects to provide near-term revenue, although we have published milestones including the initiation of a non-human primate (NHP) PD study in the fourth quarter of 2012, the release of pre-clinical rodent and NHP PD study data in the first quarter of 2013 and the initiation of a Gunn rat rodent study to look at CNS, a rare but sometimes fatal inherited liver disease.

Research and development expenses are expensed as they are incurred, and are accounted for on a project by project basis. However much of our research has potential applicability to each of our projects.

Selling and Marketing Expense

Marketing expenses for the year ended December 31, 2012 amounted to $2.07 million, reflecting an increase of approximately $589,000 or 40%, as compared to $1.48 million in 2011. The rise in spending was primarily driven by increases in advertising and marketing expense of approximately $287,000, consulting expense of $244,000, logistics and selling-related expenses of $239,000, e-commerce website support expense of $112,000, employee-related spending of $64,000, and commission paid to various sales consultants of $43,000. The increase was partially offset by a reduction of $272,000 in sales commission paid to a consultant who promoted, marketed, and sold skin care products through various proprietary mailings and a reduction in employee stock-based compensation of $116,000.

Regarding the marketing arrangement with the abovementioned consultant who promoted, marketed, and sold skin care products, prior and up to June 30, 2011, we incurred a 40% marketing fee on net profits generated from these proprietary mailings. In June 30, 2011, we renegotiated and formalized this arrangement in a marketing agreement, which specifies a reduced 20% marketing fee on net revenues generated from these proprietary mailings. Subsequently in July 2012, we renegotiated the commission structure to reflect slightly lower rates, 18% on net revenues derived from direct sales and 9% on net revenues derived from referral sales. For the month of December 2012, the commission rate was temporarily increased to 25% on net revenues derived from direct sales on qualifying volume of orders. For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, we recorded $149,000 and $430,000, respectively, as marketing expenses related to this agreement.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2012 were $7.44 million, reflecting a decrease of $916,000 or 11%, compared to $8.36 million in 2011. The decrease was largely attributable to a more streamlined operating cost structure including reductions in stock-based compensation expense of $873,000, corporate support expenses of $343,000, personnel-related spending resulting from lower headcount of $266,000, and consulting expense of $123,000. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in legal fees of $343,000 pertaining to capital raising and corporate matters, an increase in impairment of intangible assets totaling $187,000, an increase in professional accounting fees and corporate governance expenses of $92,000, and an increase in rent expense of $71,000.

Other Income/Expense

Other expense was $20,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012. In 2011, we recorded other income of $2.18 million reflecting the substantial decrease in the fair value of our warrant liabilities which expired on February 14, 2012.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2012, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $654,000, compared to $1.34 million as of December 31, 2011. Working capital at December 31, 2012, totaled $395,000, compared to $905,000 at December 31, 2011.

Operating Cash Flows

Net cash used in operating activities was $6.69 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $6.96 million in 2011. The primary factor contributing to the variability in the reported cash flow amounts relates to the lower net loss after non-cash adjustments totaling $6.70 million in 2012, compared to $7.00 million in 2011.

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Investing Cash Flows

Net cash used in investing activities was $786,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $941,000 in 2011. Patent related spending approximated $596,000 during 2012. In addition, purchases of property and equipment totaling approximately $197,000 in 2012 consisted primarily of laboratory equipment, software, leasehold improvements and computer equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities was $941,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011. Purchases of property and equipment of $565,000 in 2011 consisted primarily of laboratory equipment, furniture, computer equipment and leasehold improvements related to new corporate offices. In addition, we made payments for patent licenses of $376,000 during 2011.

Financing Cash Flows

Net cash provided by financing activities was $6.79 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $3.46 million in 2011. We received approximately $4.94 million, net of stock issuance costs, from the issuance of five million shares of Series G Preferred Stock in 2012. For further discussion, see Note 6, Capital Stock, Series G Preferred Stock. In addition, we raised $2.09 million from the issuance of 5,000,000 shares of common stock to Aspire Capital Group and paid dividends of $237,000 to our preferred stockholders.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $3.46 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. We issued 4.0 million shares of common stock to Aspire Capital Group for approximately $3.36 million. In addition, we raised $532,000 from warrants and options exercised and paid dividends of $430,000 to our preferred stockholders.

On October 12, 2012, the Company and the holders of all of the outstanding shares of Series D and Series G Preferred Stock entered into a Waiver Agreement (the “Waiver Agreement”) pursuant to which such holders irrevocably waived their right to receive any and all accrued but unpaid dividends and interest thereon on or after September 30, 2012 on the Series D and Series G Preferred Stock. Accordingly, we reversed all previously accreted and recorded dividends related to Series G Preferred Stock totaling $93,000. Under the Waiver Agreement, the holders of Series D and Series G Preferred Stock are restricted from transferring any shares of Series D or Series G Preferred Stock unless the transferee agrees to be bound by the Waiver Agreement.

Management is currently evaluating various financing sources and options to raise working capital to help fund our current research and development programs and operations. We will need to obtain significant additional capital from sources including equity and/or debt financings, license arrangements, grants and/or collaborative research arrangements to sustain our operations and develop products. Thereafter, we will need to raise additional working capital. Unless we obtain additional financing, we do not have sufficient cash on hand to operate for 12 months from the consolidated balance sheet date. The timing and degree of any future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

Additional financing through strategic collaborations, public or private equity financings or other financing sources may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Additional equity financing could result in significant dilution to our stockholders. Additional debt financing may be expensive and require us to pledge all or a substantial portion of our assets. Further, if additional funds are obtained through arrangements with collaborative partners, these arrangements may require us to relinquish rights to some of our technologies, product candidates or products that we would otherwise seek to develop and commercialize on our own. If sufficient capital is not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our product initiatives.

We continue to operate as a development stage entity and as such have accumulated losses from inception and expect to incur additional losses in the near future. We need to raise additional working capital. The timing and degree of any future capital requirements will depend on many factors. For the year ended December 31, 2012 our average burn rate was approximately $580,000 per month, excluding capital expenditures and patent costs averaging $70,000 per month. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in maintaining our normal operating cash flow and that the timing of our capital expenditures will result in cash flow sufficient to sustain our operations through 2013. Based on the above, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a

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going concern. The consolidated financial statements were prepared assuming that we will continue to operate as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are focused on managing our cash flow, the proper timing of our capital expenditures, and raising additional capital or financing in the future. In March 2012, to obtain funding for working capital purposes, the Company sold 5,000,000 shares of Series G Preferred Stock raising $5 million, and during the first quarter of 2012 sold 5,000,000 shares of common stock to Aspire Capital Fund, LLC, for $2.1 million.

We do not currently have any obligations for milestone payments under any of our licensed patents other than the minimum royalty payment of $75,000 due in two installments per year to Advanced Cell Technology pursuant to the amended UMass IP license agreement. No licenses are terminable at will by the licensor. For further discussion of our patents, see Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements.

Under our Common Stock Purchase Agreement with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC (“Aspire Capital”), we may sell from time to time up to an aggregate of $25.0 million of shares of common stock through approximately January 2014. From commencement through December 31, 2012, we sold a total of 9,333,333 shares of common stock to Aspire Capital for an aggregate of $5,942,000. In addition, in February 2013, we sold an additional 1,200,000 shares to Aspire Capital for an aggregate of $264,000.

In January 2013, to obtain funding for working capital purposes, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “January 2013 Purchase Agreement”) and raised $2,025,000 through the sale of shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase additional shares of common stock. In March 2013, to obtain further funding for working capital purposes, we entered into another Securities Purchase Agreement (the “March 2013 Purchase Agreement”) and raised $1,000,000 through the sale of shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase additional shares of common stock. For further discussion, see Note 11, Subsequent Events.

We have filed a registration statement with the SEC that, following effectiveness, would allow us to raise up to $15 million from the sale of common stock and warrants. However, this is a “best efforts” offering and we cannot predict the timing or amount of any funds that we may actually receive.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of December 31, 2012, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and related disclosures. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions, including those related to revenue recognition, allowances for accounts receivable, inventories, intangible assets, warrant liabilities, stock-based compensation and income taxes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.

We believe the following accounting policies to be critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Development Stage Company

We are a development stage entity with no revenue generated from our principal operations in therapeutic research and development efforts. To date, we have generated limited and unpredictable incidental revenues to support our core therapeutic research and development efforts.

Inventories

We account for inventory using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method for our Lifeline Skin Care products, Lifeline Cell Technology cell culture media and reagents, and specific identification method for our Lifeline Cell Technology products. We state our inventory balances at the lower of cost or market. Lab supplies used in the research and development process are expensed as consumed. Inventory is reviewed periodically for product expiration and obsolescence and is adjusted accordingly.

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Property and Equipment

We record property and equipment at cost. The provision for depreciation and amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally over five years. The costs of major remodeling and leasehold improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the shorter of the remaining term of the lease or the life of the asset.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets consist of acquired research and development rights used in research and development, and capitalized legal fees related to the acquisition, filing, maintenance, and defense of patents. Patents and patent licenses are recorded at cost and are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the lives of the underlying patents or the useful life of the intangible asset, generally 15 years. Intangible asset amortization expenses are included in research and development expenses.

Long-Lived Asset Impairment

We review long-lived assets for impairment when events or changes in business conditions indicate that their carrying value may not be recovered, at least annually. We consider assets to be impaired and write them down to fair value if expected associated undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying amounts. Fair value is the present value of the associated cash flows. Due to the numerous variables associated with our judgments and assumptions relating to the carrying value of our intangible assets and the effects of changes in circumstances affecting these valuations, both the precision and reliability of the resulting estimates are subject to uncertainty. As additional information becomes known, we may change our estimate, in which case the likelihood of a material change in our reported results would increase.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue when all four of the following criteria are met: (i) persuasive evidence that an arrangement exists; (ii) delivery of the products and/or services has occurred; (iii) the selling price is fixed or determinable; and (iv) collectability is reasonably assured. Should changes in conditions cause management to determine these criteria are not met for certain future transactions, revenues recognized for any reporting period could be adversely impacted.

Cost of Sales

Cost of sales consists primarily of salaries and benefits associated with employee efforts expended directly on the production of the Company’s products and include related direct materials, general laboratory supplies and allocation of overhead. Certain of the agreements under which the Company has licensed technology will require the payment of royalties based on the sale of its future products. Such royalties will be recorded as a component of cost of sales. Additionally, the amortization of license fees or milestone payments related to developed technologies used in the Company’s products will be classified as a component of cost of sales to the extent such payments become due in the future. Cost of sales included salaries and benefits related to manufacturing, third party manufacturing costs, raw materials, general laboratory supplies and an allocation of overhead.

Research and Development Costs

Research and development costs, which are expensed as incurred, are primarily comprised of salaries and benefits associated with research and development personnel, overhead and occupancy, contract services, and amortization of license costs for technology used in research and development with alternative future uses.

Registration Payment Arrangements

We are required to separately recognize and measure registration payment arrangements, whether issued as a separate agreement or included as a provision of a financial instrument or other agreement. Such payments include penalties for failure to effect a registration of securities.

Stock-Based Compensation

We are required to measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock-based payment awards made to employees and consultants based on estimated fair value. We estimate the fair value of stock options granted using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

The determination of fair value of stock-based awards using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires the use of certain estimates and highly judgmental assumptions that affect the amount of stock-based compensation expense recognized in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. These include estimates of the expected volatility of our stock price, expected option life, expected dividends and the risk-free interest rate. Estimated volatility is a measure of the amount by which our stock price is expected to fluctuate each year during the expected life of the award. The expected option life is calculated using the mid-point method as

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prescribed by accounting guidance for stock-based compensation. We determined expected dividend yield to be 0% given that we have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock, and we currently do not anticipate paying such cash dividends. The risk-free interest rate is based upon U.S. Treasury securities with remaining terms similar to the expected term of the share-based awards. If any of the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes model change significantly, stock-based compensation expense may differ materially from what we have recorded in the current period.

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes in accordance with provisions which set forth an asset and liability approach that requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts and the tax bases of assets and liabilities. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount that is more likely than not expected to be realized. In making such a determination, a review of all available positive and negative evidence must be considered, including scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies, and recent financial performance.

Concentration of Credit Risk

We maintain our cash and cash equivalents in banks located primarily in the United States. Beginning December 31, 2010, through December 31, 2012, all noninterest-bearing transaction accounts are fully insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), regardless of the balance of the account, at all FDIC-insured institutions, upon the implementation of section 343 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that provides for unlimited insurance coverage of noninterest-bearing transaction accounts. After December 31, 2012, our accounts are guaranteed by the FDIC up to $250,000 per financial institution.

Income (Loss) Per Common Share

The computation of net loss per common share is based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding during each period. The computation of diluted earnings per common share is based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period plus the common stock equivalents, which would arise from the exercise of stock options and warrants outstanding using the treasury stock method and the average market price per share during the period.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

There were no new accounting pronouncements during the year ended December 31, 2012, as compared to the recent accounting pronouncements described in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, that are of significance, or potential significance, to the Company.

Not required.

The information required by this Item is set forth in our Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto beginning at page F-1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

None.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As required by Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, the Company, with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in such rules) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that, at December 31, 2012, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

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Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control. The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent quarter ended December 31, 2012 that our certifying officers concluded materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control system is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and includes those policies and procedures that:

Because of its inherent limitations, a system of internal control over financial reporting can provide only reasonable assurance and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Further, because of changes in conditions, effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting may vary over time. Our system contains self-monitoring mechanisms, and actions are taken to correct deficiencies as they are identified.

Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the system of internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on the above evaluation, the Company’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer have concluded that as of December 31, 2012, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting were effective. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that due to its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

None.

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PART III

The information required by this item regarding our directors is incorporated by reference to the information in our definitive Proxy Statement (the “Proxy Statement”) to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders under the heading “Election of Directors.” The information required by this item regarding compliance with Section 16a of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the caption “Section 16a Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance.” The information required by this item regarding our Code of Conduct and Ethics in incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the caption “Code of Conduct and Ethics.” The information required by this item regarding our Governance Committee and Audit Committee is incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the caption “Corporate Governance.”

As of December 31, 2012, our executive officers were as follows:

Andrey Semechkin, Ph.D., Co-Chairman and CEO, has been a Director of the Company since December 2008. Dr. Semechkin is a specialist in system analysis, strategic planning and corporate management. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and has been Deputy Director of Institute of System Analysis since 2004. Professor Semechkin was awarded the Russian Government Award in Science and Technology in 2006 and has written several scientific books. He has over 20 years experience creating and managing businesses across different industries and scientific sectors.

Linh T. Nguyen, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, has over 18 years of experience in financial management. She served as chief financial officer of International Lottery & Totalizator Systems (ILTS), a publicly-traded global software and system developer of lottery and optical scan voting systems, where she was a member of the executive leadership team executing strategic initiatives, formulating policies and assessing financial viability of business opportunities. During her tenure at ILTS, Ms. Nguyen held various other roles, including director of finance and finance manager. Ms. Nguyen earned a Master of Science in Executive Leadership from University of San Diego and B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting, from California State University, San Marcos.

John Simon Craw, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Business Development, obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Manchester and began his career at the University of Rio de Janeiro followed by positions at the University of Sydney and the University of Manchester. He has over 18 years experience in research and development as well as operations and information technology at Merck, Astra-Zeneca and Novartis and as head of R&D Informatics and Regulatory Operations at ACADIA Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Craw’s has numerous scientific publications, has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs including National Public Radio and Fox News, and is a frequent speaker at international conferences.

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the caption “Executive Compensation.”

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the captions “Stock Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters” and “Equity Compensation Plan Information.”

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the captions “Related Person Transactions” and “Corporate Governance – Director Independence.”

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The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the information in the Proxy Statement under the caption “Ratification of Appointment of Independent Auditors – Principal Accounting Fees and Services.”

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PART IV

All other schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is shown in the Financial Statements or notes thereto.

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SIGNATURES

In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Dated: March 25, 2013

In accordance with the Exchange Act, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

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Consolidated Financial Statements

International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries

(A Development Stage Company)

Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2011

F-1

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders

INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries (a development stage company) (“the Company”) as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in redeemable convertible preferred stock, members’ deficit and stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended and for the period from inception (August 17, 2001) through December 31, 2012. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We did not audit the consolidated financial statements of International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries for the period from inception to December 31, 2010. Such statements are included in the cumulative inception to December 31, 2012 totals of the consolidated statements of operations and cash flows and reflect total revenues, total expenses and net loss of 26%, 63% and 70%, respectively, of the related cumulative totals. Those statements were audited by other auditors whose report has been furnished to us and our opinion, insofar as it relates to amounts for the period from inception to December 31, 2010, included in those cumulative totals, is based solely upon the report of the other auditors.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement. For the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, based on our audits and the report of other auditors, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the years then ended, and for the period from inception (August 17, 2001) to December 31, 2012, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has incurred recurring operating losses and is dependent on additional financing to fund operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated March 16, 2012, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.

MAYER HOFFMAN MCCANN P.C.

San Diego, California

March 25, 2013

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders

INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

We have audited International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries’ (a development stage company) (“the Company”) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2011, based on the criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheet of International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 2011, and the related consolidated statements of operations, members’ deficit and stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for the year then ended and for the period from inception (August 17, 2001) to December 31, 2011, and our report dated March 16, 2012 (which includes an explanatory paragraph relating to the uncertainty of the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern) expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

/s/ Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C.

San Diego, California

March 16, 2012

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of

International Stem Cell Corporation

(A Development Stage Company)

Oceanside, California

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of operations, members’ deficit and stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows of International Stem Cell Corporation and subsidiaries (a development stage company) (the “Company”) for the period from inception (August 17, 2001) through December 31, 2010. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the

Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

As discussed in note 2 to the 2010 consolidated financial statements, the consolidated balance sheet, statement of operations, members’ deficit and stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2010 and for the period from inception (August 17, 2001) through December 31, 2010 have been restated.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the results of operations and cash flows of International Stem Cell Corporation and subsidiaries for the period from inception (August 17, 2001) through December 31, 2010, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

/s/ Vasquez & Company LLP

Los Angeles, California

March 24, 2011 (except for notes 1, 2 and 10

to the 2010 consolidated financial statements,

as to which the date is June 22, 2011)

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International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries

(A Development Stage Company)

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except share data)

See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

F-5

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International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries

(A Development Stage Company)

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except per share data)

See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries

(A Development Stage Company)

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock, Members’ Deficit and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

From Inception to December 31, 2012

(in thousands)