Revenue-Sharing Agreement
ReNeuron Group plc
26 February 2007
ReNeuron gains revenue-share on new cell line patent
Guildford, UK, 26 February 2007: ReNeuron Group plc today announces that it has
entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with the international Ludwig Institute
of Cancer Research (LICR) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, US,
concerning newly-patented research conducted by these institutions on certain
gene-based somatic cell expansion technology.
ReNeuron's entitlement to revenues generated from the commercial exploitation of
this technology stems from a pre-existing agreement between ReNeuron and the
LICR going back to 1998.
The expansion technology developed at the LICR and Dana-Farber concerns the
controlled expansion, or conditional immortalisation, of a range of somatic
cells using the SV40 Large T Antigen with a gene variant that renders the cell
lines genetically stable and therefore suitable for a range of commercial drug
discovery applications.
The cell expansion technology has been patented in all major territories
worldwide, and, together with an earlier patent in which ReNeuron also has a
commercial interest, was licensed in January 2005 to a subsidiary of the
US-based Cambrex Corporation. This subsidiary was recently sold to Lonza as
part of the acquisition by Lonza of the Cambrex Bio-Businesses. The licensed
rights to the cell expansion technology have consequently been transferred to
Lonza as part of this transaction. ReNeuron will receive a share of upfront
payments and ongoing royalties emanating from this, and any further, licence
deals relating to these patents.
John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer of ReNeuron, said:
'We are pleased to have secured a revenue share over this potentially valuable
technology. Although unrelated to ReNeuron's own c-mycERTAM cell expansion
platform, this deal gives us a stake in an alternative, commercial cell-based
technology, providing ReNeuron with a further near-term revenue stream.'
Enquiries:
ReNeuron
John Sinden, Chief Scientific Officer Tel: 44 (0)1483 302 560
Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer
Financial Dynamics
David Yates Tel: 44 (0)20 7831 3113
Nicola Daley
Notes to Editors
About the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research is the largest international
not-for-profit institute dedicated to understanding and controlling cancer. With
operations at 43 sites in 15 countries, the scientific network that is LICR
quite literally spans the globe. LICR has developed an impressive portfolio of
reagents, knowledge, expertise, and intellectual property, and has also
assembled the personnel, facilities, and practices necessary to patent,
clinically evaluate, license, and thus translate, the most promising aspects of
its own laboratory research into cancer therapies.
About the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.dana-farber.org) is a principal teaching
affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research
and care centres in the US. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard
Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the US
National Cancer Institute.
About ReNeuron
ReNeuron is a leading, UK-based adult 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-mycERTAM 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.
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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