BioTime Inc. and Metropolitan Hospital Center of New York willcooperate in research on BioTime blood substitutes and plasmaextenders, the company announced Monday.

BioTime of Berkeley, Calif., said the collaboration begins thenext phase of a testing program that may lead to patient trials.

The company said its solutions can be used without having tomatch the recipient's blood type and do not pose a risk oftransmitting AIDS, hepatitis or other infectious diseases.BioTime said its solution circumvents the use of potentiallytoxic and costly oxygen-carrying molecules while containingphysiological components lacking in plasma extenders.

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