Guildford, UK, 1 July 2013: ReNeuron welcomes the recommendations in the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee’s report, Regenerative Medicine, published today.
The findings and recommendations in the report are based on evidence taken from a wide variety of parties involved in the field of regenerative medicine, with the aim of identifying potential barriers to the development and commercialisation of regenerative medicine therapies in the UK and making recommendations to address these barriers. ReNeuron gave both written and oral evidence to the Committee and the business is widely referred to in the report.
Among its recommendations, the Committee calls for the following:
• the streamlining of the regulatory system for regenerative medicine;
• the development of a strategy by the Department of Health, led by an independent, Government-appointed Chair, to ensure that the NHS is ready to provide regenerative medicine treatments;
• the development of innovative funding models to further support the field;
• a review by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) of its evaluation processes to ensure that the potentially very significant long-term health and social care cost savings from regenerative medicine treatments are recognised.
The Committee’s Regenerative Medicine report will be available at www.parliament.uk/hlscience.
Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron, said:
“The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee’s report is a very well-researched and comprehensive analysis of the regenerative medicine scene in the UK and we are pleased to have been invited to contribute to it as a UK company operating in this field. The potential barriers to commercialisation identified in the report are real and important and we endorse the recommendations proposed in the report to address them.”
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, Adrian Hargrave (NOMAD and Broker)
Andy Roberts (Sales)
About ReNeuron
ReNeuron is a leading, clinical-stage stem cell business. Its primary objective is the development of novel stem cell 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. ReNeuron’s lead candidate is its ReN001 stem cell therapy for the treatment of patients left disabled by the effects of a stroke. This therapy 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 such as retinitis pigmentosa.
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 Merck Millipore.
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.