RENE.L Regulatory News (RENE)

17 Apr 2007 07:01

ReNeuron Group plc17 April 2007 ReNeuron receives notice of European patent grant covering key neural stem celllines Guildford, UK, 17 April 2007: ReNeuron Group plc (LSE: RENE.L) today announcedthat it has received a notification of grant from the European Patent Officeconcerning a patent application covering the composition, manufacture and use ofthree key human neural stem cell lines. The patent (No. 05255932.5) contains claims covering the production of the celllines and their use as a treatment for stroke, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer'sdisease, traumatic brain injury and Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (CJD). The patentclaims also encompass the use of these cell lines in non-therapeuticapplications such as cell-based screens for testing neurological drugcandidates. Of the three cell lines concerned, one has been taken forward asReNeuron's ReN001 treatment for stroke and one is being developed as theCompany's ReN005 treatment for Huntington's disease. The third is a back-up cellline derived from the hippocampus region of the brain. Equivalent patent applications to the above European patent have been filed bythe Company in the US and other significant territories. Overall, ReNeuron haswritten or exclusively licensed over 55 issued patents and over 70 furtherpatent applications. Of these, over 30 patents have issued in the key Europeanand US territories. Dr John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer of ReNeuron, said: "This notice of grant represents a very important additional element in thestructure of ReNeuron's patent estate. Our c-mycER stem cell expansiontechnology allows us to generate individual cell lines as products which arepatentable entities in their own right. This gives us the ability to extend thelife of our overall patent portfolio, and, importantly, provides us withindividually patented cell-based therapies or products that can therefore bemore readily licensed to commercial partners in due course." Enquiries: ReNeuronMichael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0) 1483 302560Dr John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer Financial DynamicsDavid Yates Tel: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113Nicola Daley Notes to Editors ReNeuron is a leading, UK-based stem cell therapy business. It is applying itsnovel stem cell platform technologies in the development of ground-breaking stemcell therapies to serve significant and unmet or poorly-met clinical needs. ReNeuron has used its c-mycER technology to generate genetically stable neuralstem cell lines. This technology platform has multi-national patent protectionand is fully regulated by means of a chemically-induced safety switch. Cellgrowth can therefore be completely arrested prior to in vivo implantation. ReNeuron has filed for approval to commence initial clinical studies in the USwith its lead ReN001 stem cell therapy for chronic stroke disability. Thisrepresents the world's first such filing concerning a neural stem cell treatmentfor a major neurological disorder. ReNeuron has also generated pre-clinicalefficacy data with its ReN005 stem cell therapy for Huntington's disease, agenetic and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects around 1 in 10,000people. This programme is in pre-clinical development. In addition to itsstroke and Huntington's disease programmes, ReNeuron is developing stem celltherapies for Parkinson's disease, Type 1 diabetes and diseases of the retina. ReNeuron has also leveraged its stem cell technologies into non-therapeuticareas - its ReNcell(TM) range of cell lines for use in research and in drugdiscovery applications in the pharmaceutical industry. ReNeuron's ReNcell(TM) CX and ReNcell(TM) VM neural cell lines are marketed worldwide under license byMillipore 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 atwww.reneuron.com. Data sources: UK Stroke Association; American Stroke Association. This announcement contains forward-looking statements with respect to thefinancial condition, results of operations and business achievements/performanceof ReNeuron and certain of the plans and objectives of management of ReNeuronwith respect thereto. These statements may generally, but not always, beidentified by the use of words such as "should", "expects", "estimates","believes" or similar expressions. This announcement also containsforward-looking statements attributed to certain third parties relating to theirestimates regarding the growth of markets and demand for products. By theirnature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because theyreflect ReNeuron's current expectations and assumptions as to future events andcircumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of factors could causeReNeuron's actual financial condition, results of operations and businessachievements/performance to differ materially from the estimates made or impliedin such forward-looking statements and, accordingly, reliance should not beplaced on such statements. The terms 'ReNeuron', 'the Company' or 'the Group' used in this statement referto ReNeuron Group plc and/or its subsidiary undertakings, depending on thecontext. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange