RENE.L Regulatory News (RENE)

Positive pre-clinical data published with ReNeuron's stem cells

for retinal degenerative diseases

ReNeuron's hRPC retinal stem cells arrest visual decline in pre-clinical model of retinal degeneration, demonstrating potential as therapy for retinal diseases

Guildford, UK, 21 January 2014:  ReNeuron Group plc (the "Company") (AIM: RENE.L), a leading UK-based stem cell therapy company, is pleased to announce the publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal of key pre-clinical efficacy data with its human retinal progenitor cells (hRPCs) in a model of retinal degeneration.

The paper, "Human retinal progenitor cell transplantation preserves vision", has been published online as a "paper in press" in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and describes work undertaken by Dr Kang Zhang and colleagues at the Institute for Genomic Medicine and Shiley Eye Center, University of California, San Diego, in collaboration with Dr Michael Young and Dr Petr Baranov at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston.

In the study, ReNeuron's hRPCs were found to protect visual function when transplanted into the well-established Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat model of retinal degeneration. The hRPC-grafted eyes had significantly superior visual acuity compared with untreated eyes and histological analysis showed a significantly greater preservation of the outer nuclear layer of the retina in the treated animals.

The first clinical application for ReNeuron's hRPCs is the Company's ReN003 programme targeting the inherited, blindness-causing disease, retinitis pigmentosa. This programme benefits from Orphan Drug designation in both the US and Europe. The Company and its collaborators are currently completing late pre-clinical development of the ReN003 therapy, ahead of an initial clinical trial application planned for later this year.

ReNeuron's hRPCs offer a number of potential advantages over other therapeutic approaches in this area, including low immunogenicity of the hRPCs and the potential for large-scale production of the cells using a patented and highly efficient cell expansion process.

Dr John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer of ReNeuron, said: 

"We are pleased to see this clear demonstration of the clinical potential of our human retinal progenitor cells in this newly published study using a well-validated model of retinal degeneration. We look forward to completing the late pre-clinical development of our ReN003 therapy for retinitis pigmentosa, the first clinical application of the hRPC technology. ReNeuron is committed to subjecting its pivotal pre-clinical data to peer review and in the past two years has published such data across all of its therapeutic programmes in high-impact scientific journals."

The Jing Luo et al paper can be found at: 

http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2014/01/09/jbc.M113.513713.long

Enquiries:

ReNeuron +44 (0) 1483 302560

Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer

Dr John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer

Buchanan +44 (0) 20 7466 5000

Mark Court, Fiona Henson, Sophie Cowles

Cenkos Securities +44 (0) 20 7397 8900

Stephen Keys, Dr Christopher Golden (NOMAD and Broker)

Andy Roberts (Sales)

About ReNeuron

ReNeuron is a leading, clinical-stage cell therapy development business. Its primary objective is the development of novel cell-based therapies targeting areas of significant unmet or poorly met medical need.

ReNeuron has used its unique stem cell technologies to develop cell-based therapies for significant disease conditions where the cells can be readily administered "off-the-shelf" to any eligible patient without the need for additional immunosuppressive drug treatments. The Company's lead therapeutic candidate is its ReN001 stem cell therapy for the treatment of patients left disabled by the effects of a stroke. This treatment is currently in clinical development. The Company is also developing stem cell therapies for other conditions such as critical limb ischaemia, a serious and common side effect of diabetes, and blindness-causing diseases of the retina.

ReNeuron is also advancing a proprietary platform technology to exploit nanoparticles (exosomes) secreted by stem cells as potential new drug candidates targeting indications in tissue repair, fibrosis and cancer.

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.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business achievements/performance of ReNeuron and certain of the plans and objectives of management of ReNeuron with respect thereto. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "should", "expects", "estimates", "believes" or similar expressions. This announcement also contains forward-looking statements attributed to certain third parties relating to their estimates regarding the growth of markets and demand for products. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect ReNeuron's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of factors could cause ReNeuron's actual financial condition, results of operations and business achievements/performance to differ materially from the estimates made or implied in such forward-looking statements and, accordingly, reliance should not be placed on such statements.