RENE.L Regulatory News (RENE)

28 Jun 2006 07:01

ReNeuron Group plc28 June 2006 Guildford, UK: 28 June 2006 ReNeuron Group plc Announcement of Placing ReNeuron Group plc (the "Company") today announces that it has receivedcommitments in respect of a placing of 5,500,000 new ordinary shares of 10p eachcredited as fully paid ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 13p per share (the "Placing"). Collins Stewart Limited acted as nominated adviser and broker to theCompany in connection with the Placing. In conjunction with the Placing the Company will issue 556,767 new OrdinaryShares to StemCells, Inc. fully paid up as to nominal value (the "SCI Issue")pursuant to the term of the subscription and share exchange agreement between,inter alia, the Company and StemCells, Inc. dated 5 July 2005 (as amended) andas more fully described in the admission document published by the Company on 5August 2005 in connection with the initial admission of the Ordinary Sharecapital of the Company to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchangeplc ("AIM"). A total of 6,056,767 Ordinary Shares are expected to be issued pursuant to thePlacing and the SCI Issue will be issued and admitted to trading on AIM on 29June 2006. Such Ordinary Shares will rank in full for all dividends andotherwise pari passu with all existing Ordinary Shares. For further information: Michael Hunt, Chief Executive OfficerReNeuron Group plc +44 (0)1483 302560 David YatesSarah MacleodFinancial Dynamics - Europe +44 (0)20 7831 3113 Jonathan Birt, John CapodannoFinancial Dynamics - US +1 (212) 850 5755 Note to editors: ReNeuron is a leading, UK-based adult stem cell therapy business. The Group isapplying its novel stem cell platform technologies in the development ofground-breaking stem cell therapies to serve significant and unmet or poorly-metclinical needs. ReNeuron has used its c-mycER(TAM) technology to generate genetically stableneural stem cell lines. This technology platform has multi-national patentprotection and is fully regulated by means of a chemically-induced safetyswitch. Cell growth can therefore be completely arrested prior to in vivoimplantation. The Group's lead stem cell therapy, ReN001 for chronic stroke disability, is inlate pre-clinical development. Subject to successful completion of pre-clinicaltesting, the Company plans to file for approval to commence initial clinicaltrials in stroke by the end of 2006, with trials commencing as soon as possiblethereafter. The Group has also generated pre-clinical efficacy data with its ReN005 stemcell therapy for Huntington's disease, a rare, genetic and fatalneurodegenerative disorder that affects around 1 in 10,000 people. Thisprogramme is in pre-clinical development. In addition to its stroke and Huntington's disease programmes, ReNeuron isdeveloping stem cell therapies for Parkinson's disease, Type 1 diabetes anddiseases of the retina. ReNeuron has also leveraged its stem cell technologies into non-therapeuticareas - its ReNcell range of cell lines for use in drug discovery applicationsin the pharmaceutical industry. ReNeuron's shares are traded on the London AIM market under the symbol RENE.L,and its warrants are traded under the symbol RENW.L. Further information on ReNeuron and its products can be found atwww.reneuron.com. 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. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange