TIDMWDC
RNS Number : 1991F
WideCells Group PLC
19 February 2018
19 February 2018
WideCells Group PLC ('WideCells Group' or 'the Group')
Board Changes, Launch of Wideacademy Platform
and Strategy Update
WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services group focused on
providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem
cell treatment, is pleased to announce a number of corporate
developments.
Highlights
-- David Henriques has been appointed to the board as a Non-Executive Director:
o Mr Henriques has significant asset management and corporate
finance experience, and is involved with the digitalisation of
insurance products
o As part of this appointment, Mr. Zakaria Aziz will be stepping
down from his Non-Executive position.
-- Wideacademy, the Group's 100% owned education and training
division, has successfully launched the first stage of
www.wideacademy.co:
o Provides educational content for both the public and medical
professionals to raise the profile of stem cell technologies and
support the development of the industry.
o Platform combines free-to-access educational areas with paid
for premium digital tools and resources for doctors/medical
professionals
-- With a strengthened board and three active divisions, the
Group's primary focus is now on building its global profile,
increasing client reach and driving sales of its stem cell
services:
o Identified new opportunities within Asia-Pacific region
o E-commerce site now live for INDUS and product development
continues with minimal additional capital outlay and management
resources
WideCells Group CEO, João Andrade, said, "We are delighted to
welcome David Henriques to the Board. His extensive corporate
finance experience and knowledge of digitalisation in the insurance
industry will be invaluable to us as we continue to build the
profile of our company. WideCells Group was founded to provide an
end-to-end stem cell service having early identified a number of
market opportunities.
"Our sights are now on growth and commercial roll-out. In
support of this, we have identified significant development
opportunities in the Asia-Pacific territories, where the stem cell
industry is gaining increasing profile. Furthermore, we are
delighted to have launched our Wideacademy platform, which we
believe will support both stem cell storage and treatment uptake,
and the development of the industry as a whole. Wideacademy,
together with our stem cell insurance product, CellPlan, are the
first products of their kind, and it is our ability to recognise
industry limitations and find solutions to overcome them, which I
believe sets us apart and puts us on the path for significant
growth."
Further Information
Board Changes
Mr. David Henriques has been appointed to the Board as
Non-Executive Director. His appointment will enable the Group to
separate the functions of Group Chairman from that of Chairman of
the Audit & Risk Committee. Mr Henriques will act as Chairman
of the Group's Audit & Risk Committee, while Mr. Peter Presland
will continue as Group Chairman.
As an experienced corporate financier who is involved with the
digitalisation of insurance products, Mr. Henriques brings a unique
skill set to support the continued growth of WideCells Group. He is
a co-Founder and Director of Cairn Capital Ltd , a full-service
credit asset management firm, and was formerly co-Global Head of
Structured Credit Products with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Prior
to this, he held various senior positions in corporate finance and
insurance companies. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of
Azur Group Holdings Limited, an Insurance Managing Digital Agency,
which partners with carriers and brokers to build, underwrite and
distribute digital insurance products.
As part of Mr. Henriques' appointment, Mr. Zakaria Azis will be
stepping down from the Board.
Mr Henriques, who is 53 years old, has held the following
directorships or partnerships in the past 5 years:
Current Past
----------------------------- -----
Azur Group Holdings Limited None
----------------------------- -----
The Cruwys Morchard Sporting
Society Limited
----------------------------- -----
Sard Limited
----------------------------- -----
Cairn Capital Investments
Limited
----------------------------- -----
Cairn Capital Limited
----------------------------- -----
Cairn Investment Managers
Limited
----------------------------- -----
Cairn Financial Guarantee
limited
----------------------------- -----
Cairn Capital Group Limited
----------------------------- -----
Except as disclosed in this announcement, neither the Company
nor Mr Henriques are aware of any further disclosures that are
required in respect of the appointment of Mr Henriques under
Listing Rules 9.6.11 and 9.6.13.
Wideacademy
Led by the former director of Apple Education, Alan Greenberg,
Wideacademy has created an innovative Software as a Service
('Saas') platform - the first stage of which is now live.
With a digital library of educational articles, research papers
and the beginning of a podcast series, together with real life
success stories, Wideacademy has created an educational resource to
provide users with everything they need to know about stem cell
innovation, insights and treatments and their role in the future of
healthcare and regenerative medicine. Content is populated and
verified by reputable medical professionals and key innovators
within the stem cell industry and the platform is updated daily.
Alongside this, the platform includes a 'Frequently Asked
Questions' section and tagged key search words, such as "leukaemia"
or "immunotherapy" to help users find content most of interest to
them. Accordingly, an individual can contextually search the
articles and references in a meaningful way and be confident they
are receiving trusted and authentic updates and resources in stem
cell innovations that are relevant today.
The platform will combine free-to-access educational areas with
paid for premium digital tools and resources for doctors/medical
professionals, including annual membership packages for
doctors/medical professionals and the accreditation of educational
modular courses that can support Continual Professional Development
('CPD'). The Group is currently in discussions with a number of
universities / educational organisations to refine its planned
course / CPD offering, with plans to add this functionality later
this year. Wideacademy also intends to launch a "Diseases &
Treatment" section in H1 2018, to provide more detailed information
on specific illnesses.
Other Developments
WideCells Group has an active growth strategy and is focussed on
the global roll-out of its stem cell services. Bolstering the
Group's current presence in Europe and Brazil, new commercial
opportunities have been identified globally, particularly in the
Asia-Pacific region where the stem cell industry is rapidly
growing, and stem cell regulation is well advanced meaning there is
a clear framework to work in/with. Discussions are underway with a
number of stem cell banks and insurance companies with a view to
securing commercial agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, and in
light of this focus WideCells Group is in re-negotiation with White
Apex regarding its Wideacademy agreements. Further updates will be
made in due course.
Whilst the Group's stem cell services remain WideCells Group's
primary focus, the Company's storage and research division,
WideCells, is also a licensed provider of INDUS, a novel synthetic
bone graft that promotes new bone formation, which is primarily
used in the dental industry. To facilitate the sale and promotion
of this product, which has a retail price of GBP420, the Group has
launched www.indusdental.com, which has full e-commerce capability.
The creation of this site will support sales whilst the Group
focusses on the global roll-out of its core stem cell services.
**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 Limited & Rupert Williams 20 3651 2912
------------------- ------------------------- ----------------
Shard Capital Broker - Damon Heath Tel: +44 (0)
Partners LLP & Erik Woolgar 20 7186 9950
------------------- ------------------------- ----------------
WG Partners Broker - David Wilson, Tel: +44 (0)203
LLP Claes Spång and 705 9320
Andrew Craig
------------------- ------------------------- ----------------
St Brides Partners PR - Charlotte Page Tel: +44 (0)
Limited & Isabel de Salis 20 7236 1177
------------------- ------------------------- ----------------
Notes to Editors
WideCells Group PLC
WideCells Group PLC is building an integrated stem cell services
company, focused on making stem cell treatments both accessible and
affordable. This is delivered through 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.
Stem Cell Fast Facts:
-- Cord blood (which is taken from the umbilical cord) provides
the most effective source of stem cells for families, because it is
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 collection and storage often costing no more
than a few GBPthousands, actual treatment can cost in the
GBPhundreds of thousands - before the development of an insurance
product such as CellPlan, the treatment remained largely available
only to Higher Net Worth individuals.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014
(MAR).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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