Board Changes

RNS Number : 9692T

WideCells Group PLC

09 July 2018

 

9 July 2018

WideCells Group PLC ('WideCells Group' or 'the Group')

Board Changes

WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services company focused on providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem cell treatment, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jeremy Lea as Chief Operating Officer ('COO') of WideCells Group.  Dr. Lea will be responsible for leading the Group's next phase of growth as it builds revenues and drives the global uptake of its innovative portfolio of stem cell services including CellPlan, the world's first stem cell healthcare insurance plan, WideCells, which is focused on stem cell storage services, and Wideacademy, the Group's education and training division.

Dr. Lea replaces Mr. Lopes Gil, who is stepping down for personal reasons, but will remain with the Group as an advisor.  Non-Executive Director Dr. Marilyn Orcharton is also stepping down from the Board and will assume an advisory role to support the building of the Group's dental related stem cell services, which will include the launch of a new stem cell storage service, TeethCells.

Dr. Lea has extensive sales and management experience and success in delivering tangible financial, operational and efficiency-driven improvements within the healthcare sector.  He already has an in-depth understanding of the Group having led WideCells Limited, the Group's stem cell storage and research division, and has also helped in a number of senior management positions.  Prior to joining the Group, he was the Commercial Leader for Cole-Parmer Ltd, a global manufacturer of laboratory products, tasked with driving all commercial activities for sales and marketing within the EMEA region.  Other roles held include Sales and Marketing Manager of Nu Instruments Ltd, a market leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance mass spectrometers and accessories, and Global Head of Sales of the AIC division of Bruker Biospin, Karlsruhe/Billerica, part of the Bruker Corporation.  As Managing Director of Bruker UK Ltd, he managed the merger of four separate legal entities into one coherent business.  Additionally, as Head of XRF for Bruker AXS GmbH he was Geschaftsfuhrer/Managing Director in the Karlsruhe headquarters and simultaneously Vice President of Bruker AXS Inc. in Madison WI.  He has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Leicester University.

WideCells Group CEO, João Andrade, said, "Having worked with Jeremy, we understand his ability to develop commercial models and the operations around them.  His understanding of our business, commercial acumen, global sales experience and knowledge of the healthcare sector make him well qualified to assume the role of Group COO as we look to deliver significant revenue, profit and market share growth. 

"As the business develops, we believe Jeremy will be invaluable on continuing this positive trajectory.  We have now completed our first sales for BabyCells (stem cell storage) and CellPlan (stem cell insurance) in the UK, which enabled us to complete full sales cycles for both products, placing us in a better position to grow our sales in the domestic and international markets.  In the near term, this will include driving sales of our recently launched stem cell storage services, operated from our Institute of Stem Cell Technology in Manchester, where Jeremy will be based.  We also continue to target additional sales agreements for our CellPlan insurance product, with a prospective opportunity identified in Portugal where this division is based. 

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lopes, who started the company with me, as well as Marilyn, for all their hard work and support.  Their start-up experience has enabled us to establish WideCells Group's highly innovative and unique stem cell services offering and we are delighted that they will both continue to support us in advisory roles moving forward.  We now look forward to a new phase of growth and development as we build WideCells Group's global sales profile and ultimately build the Group into the leading stem cell services provider we know it can be."

Dr. Jeremy Lea, aged 57, currently holds or has held the following directorships and partnerships in the last five years:

Current Directorships	Past Directorships
	Elucitec Ltd Bruker Biospin MRI Limited Oxford Research Systems Limited Bruker UK Limited Bruker ASX Limited

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit the Group's website www.widecellsgroup.com, follow us on Twitter @WideCells_Group or contact:

WideCells Group PLC	CEO - João Andrade	Tel:  [phone]
Smaller Company Capital Limited	Broker - Jeremy Woodgate & Rupert Williams	Tel: [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP	Broker - Damon Heath & Erik Woolgar	Tel: [phone]
St Brides Partners Limited	PR - Charlotte Page & Isabel de Salis	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors

WideCells Group PLC

WideCells Group PLC is building an integrated stem cell services company, focused on making stem cell treatments accessible and affordable.  This is achieved through three divisions:

The Group has three divisions:

·     CellPlan: the world's first stem cell healthcare insurance plan with financial cover for medical treatment, travel and accommodation expenses and concierge service to manage the treatment process.

·     WideCells: The Institute of Stem Cell Technology has been established and is based in the University of Manchester Innovation Centre to provide stem cell storage services and focus on stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Its international cryogenics division specialises in stem cell storage, with the Group currently offering umbilical cord blood and tissue storage services to clients in the UK and Europe under the brand name BabyCells.

·     Wideacademy: an education and training division to promote awareness of the benefits of stem cell storage across the global general practice community.

The Group has built an experienced senior management team that has been integral to the development of its growth and business to date.

Stem Cell Fast Facts:

·     Cord blood (which is taken from the umbilical cord) provides the most effective source of stem cells for families due to it being simple, safe and painless to collect relative to other sources of stem cells such as bone marrow - WideCells will focus on promoting the collection and storage of cord blood.

·     Since 2005, there has been a 300% increase in the number of illnesses that can be treated using stem cells.

·     82 illnesses can currently be treated using stem cell procedures.

·     Despite initial storage often costing no more than a few £thousand, actual treatment can cost in the £hundreds of thousands

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR). On publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

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