RENE.L Regulatory News (RENE)

10 Sep 2009 07:00



ANGEL BIOTECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS PLC 

("Angel" or "the Company")

Angel and ReNeuron announce contract for 

manufacture of second-generation CTX stem cell product

Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc, (AIM: ABH) the biopharmaceutical contract manufacturer, is pleased to announce the signing of a contract with ReNeuron Group plc ("ReNeuron"). The contract is to perform work to further develop and manufacture clinical-grade lots of a second-generation formulation of ReNeuron's lead CTX stem cell line, for subsequent pre-clinical and clinical applications.  The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Gordon Sherriff, Chief Operating Officer of Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc, said: "As ReNeuron's manufacturing partner, Angel will be manufacturing the stem cell clinical product for their previously announced first-in-man Phase I clinical trial for stroke. We are very pleased to have been chosen by ReNeuron to further develop and manufacture the second generation formulation of their CTX neural stem cell line for subsequent pre-clinical and clinical applications. Provision of the highest quality support for such advanced biological therapies is Angel's core competence and this contract firmly places Angel in the vanguard of this important and exciting development in medicinal therapy."

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About Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc

Angel Biotechnology Holdings plc is a biomanufacturing company offering process development services and GMP manufacturing for advanced biologics, supporting biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.  Angel's principal activity is the manufacture and supply of materials for use in early stage drug development and pre-clinical studies, along with drug product and CMC documentation for Phases I, II and III clinical trials and the manufacture of licensed drugs or vaccines. Angel specializes in the provision of advanced biologics including autologous and allogeneic cell therapy products including stem cells and cellular vaccines, specific purified natural and recombinant proteins and bacteriophage. Angel is managed by a team with wide ranging experience in biopharmaceutical manufacture, gained in companies such as Glaxo, Johnson and Johnson, Serologicals Inc., PPL Therapeutics and Intercell Ag.

Angel was admitted to trading on AIM in November 2005. 

More information at www.angelbio.com.

About ReNeuron Group plc

ReNeuron is a leading, UK-based stem cell therapy business. It is applying its novel stem cell platform technologies in the development of ground-breaking stem cell therapies to serve significant and unmet or poorly-met clinical needs.

ReNeuron has used its proprietary, patented cell expansion technology to generate genetically stable neural stem cell lines. This technology platform has multi-national patent protection and is fully regulated by means of a chemically-induced safety switch. Cell growth can therefore be completely arrested prior to in vivo implantation. ReNeuron's clinically-tested cell encapsulation technology provides a method of protecting cells when transplanted, as well as reducing or eliminating the host immune response that might otherwise occur post-transplantation.

ReNeuron has filed for approval to commence initial clinical studies with its lead ReN001 stem cell therapy for chronic stroke disability. There are an estimated 50 million stroke survivors worldwide, approximately one half of which are left with permanent disabilities. The annual health and social costs of caring for these patients is estimated to be in excess of £5 billion in the UK and in excess of US$50 billion in the US. In addition to its stroke programme, ReNeuron is developing stem cell therapies for Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Type 1 diabetes and diseases of the retina.

ReNeuron has also leveraged its stem cell technologies into non-therapeutic areas - its ReNcell® range of cell lines for use in research and in drug discovery applications in the pharmaceutical industry. ReNeuron's ReNcell®CX and ReNcell®VM neural cell lines are marketed worldwide under license by Millipore Corporation.

ReNeuron's shares are traded on the London AIM market under the symbol RENE.L. Further information on ReNeuron and its products can be found at www.reneuron.com.