ReNeuron receives notice of European patent grant covering key neural stem cell lines

Guildford, UK, 17 April 2007: ReNeuron Group plc (LSE: RENE.L) today announced that it has received a notification of grant from the European Patent Office concerning a patent application covering the composition, manufacture and use of three key human neural stem cell lines.

The patent (No. 05255932.5) contains claims covering the production of the cell lines and their use as a treatment for stroke, Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury and Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (CJD). The patent claims also encompass the use of these cell lines in non-therapeutic applications such as cell-based screens for testing neurological drug candidates. Of the three cell lines concerned, one has been taken forward as ReNeuron’s ReN001 treatment for stroke and one is being developed as the Company’s ReN005 treatment for Huntington’s disease. The third is a back-up cell line derived from the hippocampus region of the brain.

Equivalent patent applications to the above European patent have been filed by the Company in the US and other significant territories. Overall, ReNeuron has written or exclusively licensed over 55 issued patents and over 70 further patent applications. Of these, over 30 patents have issued in the key European and US territories.

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

“This notice of grant represents a very important additional element in the structure of ReNeuron’s patent estate. Our c-mycER stem cell expansion technology allows us to generate individual cell lines as products which are patentable entities in their own right. This gives us the ability to extend the life of our overall patent portfolio, and, importantly, provides us with individually patented cell-based therapies or products that can therefore be more readily licensed to commercial partners in due course.”

Notes to editors

ReNeuron is a leading, UK-based stem cell therapy business. It is applying its novel stem cell platform technologies in the development of ground-breaking stem cell therapies to serve significant and unmet or poorly-met clinical needs.

ReNeuron has used its c-mycER technology to generate genetically stable neural stem cell lines. This technology platform has multi-national patent protection and is fully regulated by means of a chemically-induced safety switch. Cell growth can therefore be completely arrested prior to in vivo implantation.

ReNeuron has filed for approval to commence initial clinical studies in the US with its lead ReN001 stem cell therapy for chronic stroke disability.
This represents the world’s first such filing concerning a neural stem cell treatment for a major neurological disorder. ReNeuron has also generated pre-clinical efficacy data with its ReN005 stem cell therapy for Huntington’s disease, a genetic and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects around 1 in 10,000 people. This programme is in pre-clinical development. In addition to its stroke and Huntington’s disease programmes, ReNeuron is developing stem cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease, Type 1 diabetes and diseases of the retina.

ReNeuron has also leveraged its stem cell technologies into non-therapeutic areas � its ReNcellTM range of cell lines for use in research and in drug discovery applications in the pharmaceutical industry.
ReNeuron’s ReNcellTM CX and ReNcellTM VM neural cell lines are marketed worldwide under license by 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.

Data sources: UK Stroke Association; American Stroke Association.

Further information

ReNeuron
Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer
Dr John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 1483 302560

Financial Dynamics
David Yates
Nicola Daley
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113

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.

The terms �ReNeuron’, �the Company’ or �the Group’ used in this statement refer to ReNeuron Group plc and/or its subsidiary undertakings, depending on the context.

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