Guildford, UK, 18 Oct 2007: ReNeuron Group plc (LSE: RENE.L) today announces that it will be participating in the 3rd World Congress on Regenerative Medicine, taking place at The Congress Center, Leipzig, Germany on 18-20 October. The Company will present in the Neurodegeneration and Repair stream on the morning of 20 October.
Dr Marc-Oliver Baradez of ReNeuron will present pre-clinical efficacy and characterisation data concerning ReNeuron’s ReN005 stem cell line for Huntington’s disease, indicating its potential as a cell-based therapeutic for this condition. A master cell bank for ReN005 has recently been manufactured to Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards, as part of the pre-clinical development programme for this cell line. This programme is being currently supported by a grant awarded under the UK Government’s Technology Programme, administered by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the DTI).
More information about the congress may be found at www.regmed.org.
Notes to editors
About Huntington’s disease
Huntington’s disease is an inherited, progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects one in 10,000 people. The disease is now recognised as one of the more common genetic disorders. It typically begins in mid-life, between the ages of 30 and 45, although onset may occur as early as the age of two. Over a period of 10 to 20 years, the disease slowly diminishes the patient’s ability to walk, think, talk and reason, ultimately making the patient completely dependent upon others for his or her care. In the US, approximately 30,000 patients suffer from the disease with 200,000 people genetically at risk. There are currently no effective treatments or cures for the disease.
About ReNeuron
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. The Company operates from laboratories in Surrey, UK and Los Angeles, California, USA.
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. There are an estimated 50 million stroke survivors worldwide, approximately one half of which are left with permanent disabilities. The annual health and social costs of caring for these patients is estimated to be in excess of £5 billion in the UK and in excess of US$50 billion in the US.
In addition to its stroke programme, ReNeuron is developing stem cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Type 1 diabetes and diseases of the retina. The Company recently announced the acquisition of the business assets of AmCyte Inc. in the US, bringing clinically-tested cell encapsulation technology to ReNeuron’s ReN002 diabetes programme.
ReNeuronhas leveraged its stem cell technologies into non-therapeutic areas � its ReNcell® range of cell lines for use in research and in drug discovery applications in the pharmaceutical industry. ReNeuron’s ReNcell®CX and ReNcell®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: Huntington’s Disease Society of America; 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
Europe
David Yates
Claire Rowell
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113
US
Robert Stanislaro
Tel : +1 212 850 5657