RENE.L Regulatory News (RENE)

27 Jan 2010 11:42



PRESS RELEASE

ReNeuron welcomes launch of Office for Life Sciences "Life Sciences 2010" report

Guildford, UK, 27 January 2010: ReNeuron Group plc (LSE: RENE.L) welcomes yesterday's launch of the "Life Sciences 2010: Delivering the Blueprint" document from the Office of Life Sciences (OLS), a body launched by the Prime Minister a year ago to work with the life sciences industry, academia and the NHS in putting together a package of measures to transform the operating environment for life sciences companies in the UK.

This latest report follows on from the "Life Sciences Blueprint" document published by the OLS last July and sets out the substantial progress made with the various initiatives contained in that Blueprint document. Among the initiatives reported on, the Life Sciences 2010 document describes the recently launched £21.5 million RegenMed programme managed by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to support the UK's emerging regenerative medicine industry. ReNeuron recently announced that its ReN001 stem cell therapy for stroke was a beneficiary of grant funding made available under this programme and this award is cited as a case study in the Life Sciences 2010 report. Further funding competitions under the TSB's RegenMed programme are to be held later this year.

The Life Sciences Blueprint and Life Sciences 2010 reports may be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk/ols/

Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron and a member of the Office for Life Sciences industry working groups, said:

"It is gratifying to see in the Life Sciences 2010 document the substantial progress made over recent months with the various OLS Blueprint initiatives, many of which will directly benefit the SME biotech part of the life sciences industry in the UK. We are particularly pleased to see ReNeuron specifically mentioned in the report and for the UK's emerging regenerative medicine industry to have been acknowledged in the report as strategically important."

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About ReNeuron

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

ReNeuron has received regulatory and conditional ethical approvals to commence a Phase I clinical trial in the UK with its lead ReN001 stem cell therapy for disabled stroke patients. The Company is developing stem cell therapies for a number of other conditions, including peripheral arterial disease and diseases of the retina.

ReNeuron has also developed a range of stem cell lines for non-therapeutic applications - its ReNcell® products for use in academic and commercial research. The Company's ReNcell®CX and ReNcell®VM neural cell lines are marketed worldwide under license by USA-based 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.

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.