Directors' Interest in Shares and Share Options

RNS Number : 7528O

ReNeuron Group plc

22 September 2011

 



                                                ReNeuron Group plc

Directors' Interest in Shares and Share Options

Guildford, UK, 22 September 2011: ReNeuron Group plc (LSE: RENE.L) ("ReNeuron" or "the Company") today announces that on 20 September 2011, the following awards were made under the Company's share-based incentive plans:

1. Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) 

	LTIP: number of shares awarded	Total shares over which options are held	Percentage of issued shares under option
Michael Hunt	2,916,667	14,396,898	2.32%
John Sinden	2,336,389	13,720,712	2.21%

The total shares over which options are held include the awards described above and those set out in note 3 below (share options were granted to directors up to August 2007 and awards under the LTIP have been made to executive directors and selected senior management since August 2009).

The share price on which the LTIP awards were calculated was 4.5p (being the closing mid-market price on 19 September 2011). The LTIP awards are options granted at nominal value and are subject to a three-year holding period, exercisable from the third anniversary of the award.  The options are exercisable subject to the achievement of the following performance conditions:

i)         The first patient is administered with a ReNeuron cell therapy in a third clinical trial.

ii)        The Total Shareholder Return (TSR) of the Company must exceed that of the FTSE AIM All-Share Healthcare Index in any given three year period from date of grant. Where the TSR ranks between median and upper quartile of the index over the three-year period, the options will vest pro-rata between 25% and 100%.  Where the TSR ranks below the median in the performance period, no options will vest.

iii)       The business must have operated within its internal financial budgets throughout the period to vesting.

iv)        The business must be a going concern (under the accepted accounting definition) at the time of any exercise of an option.

2. ReNeuron Group plc Non-Executive Share Option Scheme

The options listed below have been granted under the Rules of the Scheme at an exercise price of 4.5p, being the closing mid-market price of the Company's shares on the 19 September 2011.  The options are exercisable subject to achievement of the following performance condition:

i)          The first patient is administered with a ReNeuron cell therapy in a third clinical trial.

Director	No. options	Exercise	Exercise period
		Price
Bryan Morton	400,000	4.5p	Sep 2014 - Sep 2021
John Berriman	400,000	4.5p	Sep 2014 - Sep 2021
Simon Cartmell	400,000	4.5p	Sep 2014 - Sep 2021
Mark Docherty	400,000	4.5p	Sep 2014 - Sep 2021
Paul Harper	400,000	4.5p	Sep 2014 - Sep 2021
Trevor Jones	400,000	4.5p	Sep 2014 - Sep 2021

Allowing for the grants listed above and adjustments set out in note 3 below, the Non-executive Directors hold cumulative total options under the Scheme as follows:

Bryan Morton                               883,594

John Berriman                             400,000

Simon Cartmell                           400,000

Trevor Jones                            1,509,667

Mark Docherty                          1,131,008

Paul Harper                              1,320,284

3. Adjustments to prior share option grants

The options listed below, granted under the ReNeuron Group plc 2009 Share Option Scheme, are not new grants but represent the additional number of options attaching to respective prior option grants when those prior grants are adjusted under the Rules of the Scheme (and using the appropriate HMRC approved formula) to account for the effect of share issuances by the Company. This adjustment has the effect of increasing the number of options relating to each grant, and lowering the exercise price for those grants.  The grants at 5.62p, 13.20p, 5.29p and 7.93p are now exercisable (where the relevant performance condition has been satisfied), with the remaining options exercisable subject to achievement of performance conditions pertaining to the clinical development of the Company's therapeutic programmes.

Director	No. options		Exercise		Exercise period
			Price
Michael Hunt	104,308		5.28p		Aug 2005 - Jul 2014
	115,898		13.20p		Aug 2008 - Aug 2015
	28,941		5.29p		Aug 2009 - Aug 2016
	28,941		7.93p		Aug 2009 - Aug 2016
	50,470		12.73p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
	50,470		22.74p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
John Sinden	103,924		5.28p		Aug 2005 - Jul 2014
	115,898		13.20p		Aug 2008 - Aug 2015
	28,941		5.29p		Aug 2009 - Aug 2016
	28,941		7.93p		Aug 2009 - Aug 2016
	50,470		12.73p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
	50,470		22.74p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
Trevor Jones	11,590		5.28p		Aug 2005 - Jul 2014
	5,795		13.20p		Aug 2008 - Aug 2015
	5,788		5.29p		Aug 2009 - Aug 2016
	15,141		12.73p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
	13,298		5.06p		Aug 2012 - Aug 2019
	16,297		4.62p		Aug 2013 - Aug 2020
Mark Docherty	15,141		12.73p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
	13,298		5.06p		Aug 2012 - Aug 2019
	16,297		4.62p		Aug 2013 - Aug 2020
Paul Harper	5,795		13.20p		Aug 2008 - Aug 2015
	5,788		5.29p		Aug 2009 - Aug 2016
	15,141		12.73p		Aug 2010 - Aug 2017
	13,298		5.06p		Aug 2012 - Aug 2019
	16,297		4.62p		Aug 2013 - Aug 2020
Bryan Morton	13,298		5.06p		Aug 2012 - Aug 2019
	16,297		4.62p		Aug 2013 - Aug 2020

Enquiries:

Pat Huggins, Head of Finance & Company Secretary         [phone]

ReNeuron

Lisa Baderoon, Mark Court, Isabel Podda                           [phone]

Buchanan Communications

Antony Legge, Oliver Rigby                                                    [phone]

Daniel Stewart & Company plc

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 peripheral arterial disease, a serious and common side-effect of diabetes, and blindness-causing 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 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.

 

END

 

 

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