ReNeuron raises £68.4m with Woodford support as annual losses widen

Stem cell therapy company Reneuron Group has raised £68.4m to focus on its core product and nanomedicine cancer programme through to the first half of 2019, while final results highlighted progress of its other projects.A placing of £68.4m at a price of 5p per share saw star UK fund manager Neil Woodford increase his stake from 26% to over 35%, which will require a shareholder vote to waive the normal London Stock Market requirement to make an offer for the entire company.Chief executive Olav Hellebø said the placing was thought to be the largest funding round undertaken in the cell therapy sector globally this year.The proceeds will enable Reneuron to more rapidly develop the potential of its CTX neural stem cell line, human Retinal Progenitor Cell (hRPC) therapy candidate for retinitis pigmentosa, and exosome nanomedicine delivery platform, providing multiple opportunities to build value, Hellebø said.Full year results also highlighted the progress of its stem cell therapy candidates with data for its CTX stem cell therapy candidate for stroke and critical limb ischaemia due in 2016 and hRPC stem cell therapy candidate for retinitis pigmentosa due to commence a Phase I/II trial in 2015.The funding should provide sufficient financial resources to drive these programmes through to market authorisation application stage.Results also showed pre-tax losses in the year to March of £10.3m, up from £7.8m a year before as research and development costs rose to £7.3m from £5.8m and administrative costs increased to £3.7m from £2.8m.