TIDMWDC
RNS Number : 7942I
WideCells Group PLC
22 June 2017
22 June 2017
WideCells Group PLC ('WideCells Group' or 'the Group')
AGM Statement and Notice of Investor Evening
WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services company focused on
providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem
cell treatment, will hold its Annual General Meeting ('AGM') today.
After the AGM João Andrade, Chief Executive Officer, will provide a
corporate update, highlighting the progress made since listing in
all three divisions. A new corporate presentation, which will be
used by Mr Andrade to present with, will be available to view on
the Company's website later today: www.widecellsgroup.com.
Furthermore, the Company will be hosting a private investor evening
on Wednesday 12 July 2017, further details of which are set out
below.
At the AGM Mr Andrade will make the following statement:
"It is nearly a year since we first floated WideCells Group on
the London Stock Exchange in July 2016. Since this time, we have
made astronomical progress in building a revenue generative
end-to-end stem cell support services company. Testament to this is
the recognition we received from DISRUPT 100, an annual index
celebrating the businesses with the most potential to influence,
change or create new global markets, where WideCells Group was
ranked as the 21st most disruptive company globally. This award is
a great honour and I believe gives an indication of the huge impact
our business is set to make on the medical world.
"The business currently has three primary divisions, being
CellPlan Limited ('CellPlan'), WideCells Group Science
('WideCells') and WideAcademy, with four potential revenue streams.
With revenues now being received and set to increase from
WideCells, from both storage and research, and the launch of our
core stem cell insurance product in June 2017 creating a third, we
have reached an inflection point as we enter a new and significant
period of growth.
"Taking a look first at CellPlan, we founded this division
having recognised a significant flaw in the stem cell industry;
whilst more than 3 million people around the globe have paid
c.GBP2,000 to store stem cells, many do not realise that the cost
of treatment can be up to GBP300,000. Our innovative
first-of-its-kind CellPlan product removes these financial
barriers; for an affordable GBP150-GBP300 per annum, CellPlan
provides stem cell healthcare coverage up to EUR1,000,000 and
crucially provides families with access to expert second medical
opinions and first-class treatment, with no geographical
barriers.
"Whilst we have long held great confidence in the quality of our
CellPlan product, the "proof of the pudding" arguably lies in
uptake and sales. I am therefore delighted to report that we have
had an overwhelming response from cord blood storage facilities
wanting to offer CellPlan to their customers. We have managed to
secure a highly strategic sales agreement with Biovault Technical
Ltd ('Biovault'), the UK's largest private human tissue storage
facility, and we have a number of additional agreements with global
storage facilities in our pipeline. CellPlan is due to be available
for purchase by all Biovault customers imminently, which currently
includes more than 25,000 cord blood stored samples. Furthermore,
following commercial launch, all new customers of Biovault will
automatically be signed up to CellPlan for an initial period of 12
months.
"Complementary to our CellPlan offering is our stem cell storage
and processing division WideCells Group Science ('WideCells').
Whilst we work with a number of independent cord blood storage
facilities, we are delighted to have our own storage and processing
capabilities, which in turn enables us to penetrate a global market
which was valued at US$2.4 billion in 2015 and is growing rapidly;
3 million cord blood samples are currently held in storage in 500
facilities across the world and this is increasing by 250,000 a
year.
"In 2016, we secured a licensing agreement with an established
stem cell storage and processing facility in São Paulo, Brazil,
which has been in operation since 2012 and has a client base of
circa 400 clients ('WideCells Brasil'). This enables us to
penetrate the Brazilian cord blood banking market, which is
projected to be worth US$445 million by 2023, the largest in South
America's booming stem cell industry. This crucially provides us
with established revenues. Initial stem cell collection is charged
at US$1,000, which includes the first year's storage fee, with
annual storage charged at US$150 per annum thereafter. This fee is
normally extended over a number of decades providing recurring
revenues for the Group. Customers can also purchase a long-term
storage plan (usually 5 or 10 years), providing excellent
visibility on earnings.
"Following the success of this, we are set to launch the
Institute of Stem Cell Technology ('ISCT'), our second stem cell
retrieval, processing and storage facility, which is located at the
University of Manchester Innovation Centre in the UK. This will
enable us to primarily target the European market, with additional
potential for the Middle-East and Africa, thus significantly
expanding our geographic reach. We look forward to providing our
shareholders with updates on the official launch of the ISCT in the
near future.
"Aside from storage and processing, the creation of the ISCT and
the attention we have attracted for driving development within the
stem cell industry has resulted in us identifying a new revenue
opportunity for the Group: stem cell research. Our state-of-the-art
facility in Manchester and team of leading stem cell scientists
have been appointed by Qigenix, a California-based clinical stage
medical device company, to undertake research on its behalf,
testing a new laser technology designed to increase the homing and
integration of stem cells. This will secure GBP100,000 for the
Group, some of which we have already received, and crucially
unlocks a new stream of revenue we had not initially expected at
the time of our listing.
"Our third and final division is WideAcademy, which is focussed
on education and training. This will, we believe, be a major
component in supporting the future growth of our company and the
stem cell industry as a whole. We believe there is a critical need
for trustworthy, authentic and digestible content focussed on the
stem cell industry, which caters to medical and industry
professionals and potential consumers. Knowledge is power, and by
having the necessary resources available we intend to help people
make informed choices relating to stem cell technologies and
treatments and ultimately promote greater understanding of the stem
cell industry globally. We have an impeccable team driving this
division, which includes Alan Greenberg, former Director of
Education at Apple, and with development plans for roll-out
currently being finalised, I look forward to the opportunities
ahead.
"With a unique service offering, defined structure through which
we can rapidly grow our business, a rapidly expanding global
market, multiple revenue streams, and a world class team with
proven skills and experience both at an industry and commercial
level, we are poised for growth.
"Finally, I would like to thank our shareholders for the support
they have shown our business since listing. We are committed to
keeping our investors updated with developments relating to our
business, and in line with this, I would like to take this
opportunity to personally invite shareholders to join us at a
private investor event we are hosting on Wednesday 12 July from
5.30pm at the offices of Shard Capital, 23rd Floor, 20 Fenchurch
St,
London, EC3M 3BY. If you would like to register for this event please RSVP to shareholderenquiries@stbridespartners.co.uk with "WideCells Shareholder Event" in the subject line."
**S**
For further information, please visit the Company's website
www.widecellsgroup.com, follow us on Twitter @WideCells_Group or
contact:
WideCells Group CEO - João Andrade Tel: +351 919
033 171
------------------- ------------------------- --------------
Smaller Company Broker - Jeremy Woodgate Tel: +44 (0)
Capital Ltd & Rupert Williams 20 3651 2912
------------------- ------------------------- --------------
Shard Capital Broker - Damon Heath Tel: +44 (0)
Partners LLP & Erik Woolgar 207 186 9950
------------------- ------------------------- --------------
St Brides Partners PR - Elisabeth Cowell Tel: +44 (0)
Ltd & Charlotte Page 20 7236 1177
------------------- ------------------------- --------------
Notes to Editors
WideCells Group PLC is building an integrated stem cell services
company, focused on making stem cell treatments accessible and
affordable. In June 2017, the Group was ranked as the 21st most
disruptive company globally by DISRUPT 100, an annual index
celebrating the businesses with the most potential to influence,
change or create new global markets.
The Directors believe that the use of cord blood stem cells for
transplant will drive one of the next important phases in medicine
and is therefore developing market leading products in
complementary, strategic areas which are designed to take advantage
of substantial market opportunities in one of the fastest growing
segments in the healthcare industry.
With this in mind, the Group has created 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 focus on stem cell research and regenerative medicine.
WideCells also has international cryogenics divisions specialising
in stem cell storage.
-- WideAcademy: developing an education and training division to
promote awareness of the benefits of stem cell storage across the
global general practice community.
WideCells 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 this.
-- 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
GBPthousand, actual treatment can cost in the GBPhundreds of
thousands
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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