Last checked at 21 Aug 2019 07:00
21 August 2019 | AIM: RENE |
ReNeuron Group plc
("ReNeuron" or the "Company")
Appointments to Scientific Advisory Board
ReNeuron Group plc (AIM: RENE), a UK-based global leader in the development of cell-based therapeutics, today announces the appointment of Professor Robert MacLaren, Dr Sally Temple and Dr José-Alain Sahel to its Scientific Advisory Board.
Professor Robert MacLaren is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, where he directs research into developing new clinical treatments for blindness, using stem cells, gene therapy and electronic retinal implants. In 2016 he performed the world's first operation inside the human eye using a remotely controlled robot. Together with the University of Oxford, in 2014 he co-founded Nightstar Therapeutics, a biotechnology company originally based at the Wellcome Trust in London, to develop gene therapy treatments for patients with retinal diseases. Nightstar was acquired for $800 million by Nasdaq-listed Biogen, Inc. in June 2019.
Dr Sally Temple is the Scientific Director of the Neural Stem Cell Institute in New York. She leads a team of 30 researchers focused on using neural stem cells to develop therapies for eye, brain, and spinal cord disorders. In 1989, she discovered that the embryonic mammalian brain contained a rare stem cell that could be activated to proliferate in vitro and produce both neurons and glia. Since then, her team has continued to make pioneering contributions to the field of stem cell research. Their research on the characterisation of neural stem and progenitors brings closer the prospect of effective clinical treatments for central nervous system damage in which tissue is lost, for example, due to neurodegenerative diseases or trauma.
Dr José-Alain Sahel is the chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, of the UPMC Eye Center, and the Eye and Ear Foundation Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology. He founded and still heads the Institut de la Vision (Sorbonne Université-Inserm-CNRS) in Paris, one of the largest Vision Research Centres worldwide. Dr Sahel is known worldwide for his expertise in vision restoration techniques. He has led pioneering efforts in neuroprotection, prosthetic and optogenetic vision restoration, a technique in which cells in the retina are genetically modified to express light sensitive proteins. Dr Sahel founded Fovea Pharmaceuticals, which later became the Ophthalmology Division of Sanofi Aventis. He is also a scientific co-founder of GenSight Biologics, Pixium Vision and Sparing Vision. He is a member of the French and German National Academies of Science.
ReNeuron's Scientific Advisory Board is composed of leading academics and industry executives with a world-class breadth of expertise across the Company's areas of operation. Its role is to advise the Company on scientific matters relating to its research and clinical development strategy. This includes the future direction of cell therapy, links to academic, regulatory and industrial organisations and relationships with peer companies and government bodies on a global basis.
For additional information on ReNeuron's Scientific Advisory Board and its members, please visit the Company's website via the following link: http://www.reneuron.com/about-us/advisory-board/.
Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron, commented:
"We are delighted to welcome these renowned experts to our Scientific Advisory Board. They will provide invaluable insight and counsel across ReNeuron's therapeutic programmes as we progress our pioneering therapies towards commercialisation."
ENDS
ENQUIRIES:
ReNeuron | +44 (0)20 3819 8400 |
Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer | |
Michael Hunt, Chief Financial Officer | |
Buchanan (UK) |
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000 |
Mark Court, Sophie Wills, Tilly Abraham | |
Argot Partners (US) Stephanie Marks, Claudia Styslinger
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited |
+1 212 600 1902
+44 (0) 20 7710 7600 |
Jonathan Senior, Stewart Wallace, Ben Maddison (NOMAD and Joint Broker) | |
N+1 Singer |
+44 (0) 20 7496 3000 |
Aubrey Powell, James Moat, Iqra Amin (Joint Broker) |
About ReNeuron
ReNeuron is a global leader in cell-based therapeutics, harnessing its unique stem cell technologies to develop 'off the shelf' stem cell treatments, without the need for immunosuppressive drugs. The Company's lead clinical-stage candidates are in development for the blindness-causing disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and for disability as a result of stroke. ReNeuron is also advancing its proprietary exosome technology platform as a potential delivery system for drugs that would otherwise be unable to reach their site of action. ReNeuron's shares are traded on the London AIM market under the symbol RENE.L. For further information visit www.reneuron.com.