TIDMRENE
RNS Number : 4547K
ReNeuron Group plc
14 December 2018
Details are given below of an analyst meeting and webcast at
9.30am this morning
14 December 2018 AIM: RENE
ReNeuron Group plc
("ReNeuron" or "the Company")
Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2018
ReNeuron Group plc (AIM: RENE), a UK-based global leader in the
development of cell-based therapeutics, is pleased to announce its
interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2018.
Highlights
-- CTX stem cell therapy candidate for stroke disability:
- Patient screening and enrolment commenced in Phase IIb clinical trial in the US
- Top line data from Phase IIb study expected in early 2020
-- hRPC stem cell therapy candidate for retinal diseases:
- Optimised formulation of the hRPC drug product developed and
approved for use in ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial in retinitis
pigmentosa in the US
- Patient dosing recommenced in Phase I/II study using optimised hRPC formulation
- Top line data from Phase I/II study expected in mid-2019
-- Exosome platform:
- Programme to be re-focused on use of ExoPr0 as a drug delivery
vehicle, providing greater scope for potential near-term partnering
deals
-- Increased business development activity in the period
reflecting third party interest in the Company's core therapeutic
programmes
- Active and well-progressed discussions ongoing with commercial third parties
-- Reduced loss for the period of GBP5.32million (2017: loss of
GBP9.57 million); reduced cash consumed by operations of GBP7.54
million (2017: GBP9.22 million); cash, cash equivalents and bank
deposits at 30 September 2018 of GBP30.67 million (31 March 2018:
GBP37.41 million)
Commenting on the results, Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive
Officer, said:
"Our therapeutic development programmes have continued to
progress well during the period. We are particularly excited to
have opened the placebo-controlled Phase IIb clinical trial in the
US for CTX in chronic stroke disability. We remain encouraged by
the progress made in partnering discussions across all of our
technologies and programmes and we hope to be able to conclude an
initial out-licensing agreement in the near term.
"We have continued to maintain tight control over our operating
costs, reflected in the financial statements for the period. Our
cash position remains robust and we are positioned to deliver
significant clinical milestones in our stroke and retinitis
pigmentosa programmes over the next 18 months."
Analyst meeting and webcast:
A meeting for analysts will be held at 9.30am today at the
offices of Buchanan, 107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN.
For a webcast of the analyst presentation, please log on to the
following web address approximately 10 minutes before 9.30am:
http://webcasting.buchanan.uk.com/broadcast/5bf3e08d1a82c37e3088a28b
For further details please contact Buchanan on 020 7466 5000 or
email reneuron@buchanan.uk.com.
A recording of the webcast will be made available on ReNeuron's
website, www.reneuron.com.
Enquiries:
+44 (0) 20 3819
ReNeuron 8400
Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer
Michael Hunt, Chief Financial Officer
+44 (0) 20 7466
Buchanan 5000
Mark Court, Sophie Wills, Tilly Abraham
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited
Jonathan Senior, Stewart Wallace, Ben +44 (0) 20 7710
Maddison (NOMAD and Joint Broker) 7600
N+1 Singer +44 (0) 20 7496
Mark Taylor / Aubrey Powell (Joint Broker) 3000
This announcement contains inside information. The person
responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on
behalf of the Company is Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer.
About ReNeuron
ReNeuron is a leading, clinical-stage cell therapy development
company. Based in the UK, its primary objective is the development
of novel cell-based 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. The Company has therapeutic candidates in clinical
development for disability as a result of stroke and for the
blindness-causing disease, retinitis pigmentosa.
ReNeuron is also advancing its proprietary exosome technology
platform as a potential new nanomedicine and as a potential
delivery system for drugs that would otherwise be unable to reach
their site of action.
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
also 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.
Review of therapeutic programmes
CTX for stroke disability
During the period under review, we have progressed our CTX cell
therapy candidate for stroke disability into a Phase IIb clinical
trial in the US. The study, PISCES III, is a placebo-controlled
clinical trial and will involve 110 patients across 40 clinical
trial sites in the US.
Patients in the study will be treated between 6 and 12 months
after their stroke and will be randomised to receive either the CTX
therapy or placebo treatment. The primary end-point of the PISCES
III study is the proportion of patients in the treated and placebo
arms showing a clinically important improvement on the modified
Rankin Scale (mRS) at six months post-treatment compared with
baseline. The mRS is a global measure of disability or dependence
upon others in carrying out activities of daily living and is
accepted by regulatory authorities as an appropriate end-point for
marketing approval in stroke disability.
To date, 33 out of the 40 sites targeted for participation in
the PISCES III study have been identified and the first sites have
now been opened, with patient screening and recruitment underway.
We expect the first patient in the study to be randomised shortly
and, subject to meeting patient recruitment targets, we expect
top-line data from the study in early 2020. We expect the PISCES
III clinical trial to be one of two pivotal studies required to
support a marketing authorisation for the therapy in this
indication.
hRPC for retinal diseases
During the period, we successfully developed a new
cryo-preserved formulation of the hRPC drug product to optimise the
sub-retinal implantation of the cells and to extend the shelf life
of the drug product. Following the requisite regulatory approvals
for this new hRPC formulation, we have recommenced patient dosing
in the ongoing Phase I/II study in the US in retinitis pigmentosa
(RP). The Phase I/II study, which is being undertaken at
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, is an open-label,
dose escalation study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and
preliminary efficacy of our hRPC stem cell therapy candidate in
patients with advanced RP.
The clinical trial protocol for the Phase I/II study has been
amended to allow for a larger patient population to be treated in
the study and for a further study centre to be added, which will be
open for patient enrolment shortly. Based on this, we expect short
term read-outs from the Phase I/II study in mid-2019, with a Phase
IIb study planned to commence thereafter. As also reported
previously, we intend to seek approval to commence a Phase II
clinical trial with our hRPC cell therapy candidate in patients
with cone-rod dystrophy (CRD) to begin shortly after the start of
Phase IIb testing of this candidate in RP. CRD is a group of rare
eye disorders associated with a loss of cone cells in the retina
resulting in deterioration of central visual acuity and colour
vision.
Exosome platform
Pre-clinical development work has continued during the period
with ExoPr0, our first CTX-derived exosome therapeutic candidate.
Exosomes are nanoparticles secreted from cells including our
proprietary CTX stem cell line. Exosomes play a key role in
cell-to-cell signalling and early research with ExoPr0 has
demonstrated its potential as both a novel therapeutic candidate
and as a drug delivery vehicle.
We have recently reassessed how best to exploit our CTX
cell-based exosome platform to maximise potential near-term
commercial opportunities. In this regard, we intend to devote
greater resource to the application of ExoPr0 as a vector for
delivering biological drugs since this is where we see the greatest
near-term opportunity for value-generating business development
deals. We will therefore devote less internal resource to the
pursuit of ExoPr0 as a therapeutic agent in its own right,
preferring instead to pursue this application in collaboration with
other academic and commercial third parties under existing
grant-funded programmes. As a result, we do not now expect to
undertake the previously planned oncology clinical trial with
ExoPr0 in 2019.
Other activities
During October, we presented data demonstrating for the first
time that our lead CTX cell line can be successfully reprogrammed
to an embryonic stem cell-like state and then differentiated along
a different path from the original cell line. Importantly,
ReNeuron's immortalisation technology remained functional in the
reprogrammed cells. These results, albeit early stage, are
particularly encouraging as they demonstrate that our CTX cell line
could be used to produce new conditionally immortalised allogeneic
(i.e. non-donor-specific) cell lines from any of the three germ
layers: ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. We are now working to
develop further new allogeneic cell lines, including NK and T-cells
(the cells that can be modified to attack cancer cells), as
potential therapeutic agents for out-licensing to third
parties.
Our technologies and therapeutic programmes have increasingly
attracted the interest of commercial third parties as they have
progressed through pre-clinical and clinical development. As a
result, we are in active and well-progressed discussions with
commercial third parties relating to all of our platform
technologies and programmes, with a view to potential collaboration
and/or out-licensing deals in due course. These potential deals, if
successfully concluded, will provide strong third-party validation
to our technologies and programmes as well as an important source
of potential non-dilutive funding to the Company.
During the period, an exclusivity fee of $2.5 million was
received from one such third party relating to a potential
out-license of our hRPC retinal stem cell technology. Although this
particular potential licensee withdrew from the deal for reasons
unrelated to ReNeuron's technology, we remain confident of securing
an initial out-licence deal in the near term.
Financial review
In the six months to 30 September 2018, revenues were GBP27,000
(2017: GBP24,000) in addition to which grant income of GBP508,000
was received and is shown as other operating income (2017:
GBP240,000). Other operating income also includes GBP1,893,000
(2017: GBPNil) in respect of the exclusivity fee received during
out-licencing negotiations.
Total operating costs reduced in the period to GBP10.10 million
(2017: GBP10.81 million). Research and development expenditure
reduced to GBP7.54 million (2017: GBP8.60 million). The higher cost
in the prior period reflects heightened manufacturing process
development activity ahead of the commencement of the ongoing
clinical trials in stroke disability and retinitis pigmentosa.
General and administrative expenses increased to GBP2.56 million
(2017: GBP2.21 million) as a result of increased costs associated
with higher levels of business development activity.
Finance income represents income received from the Group's cash
and investments and gains from foreign exchange, with losses from
foreign exchange shown in finance expense. Finance income was
GBP0.89 million in the period (2017: GBP0.19 million) including
foreign exchange gains of GBP0.75 million. In 2017, the movement in
foreign exchange rates led to a foreign exchange loss of GBP0.62
million. The Group holds cash and investments in foreign currencies
in order to hedge against operational spend in those currencies.
The strengthening of sterling against the US dollar during the
period has resulted in a relative appreciation of the Group's
foreign currency deposits. The total tax credit for the period was
GBP1.46 million (2017: GBP1.40 million).
As a result of the above, the total comprehensive loss for the
period reduced to GBP5.32 million (2017: GBP9.57 million).
Cash consumed by operations in the period reduced to GBP7.54
million (2017: GBP9.22 million), broadly reflecting the receipt of
the GBP1.9m exclusivity fee in the period and lower operating
costs, offset by a reduction in working capital compared with the
prior period. The Group had cash, cash equivalents and bank
deposits totalling GBP30.67 million as at 30 September 2018 (31
March 2018: GBP37.41 million).
Summary and outlook
Our therapeutic development programmes have continued to
progress well during the period. We are particularly excited to
have opened the placebo-controlled Phase IIb clinical trial in the
US for CTX in chronic stroke disability. We remain encouraged by
the progress made in partnering discussions across all of our
technologies and programmes and we hope to be able to conclude an
initial out-licensing agreement in the near term.
We have continued to maintain tight control over our operating
costs, reflected in the financial statements for the period. Our
cash position remains robust and we are positioned to deliver
significant clinical milestones in our stroke and retinitis
pigmentosa programmes over the next 18 months.
Olav Hellebø
Chief Executive Officer
14 December 2018
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
for the six months ended 30 September 2018
Six months Six months Year ended
ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
Note GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------- --------------
Revenue 27 24 43
Research and development
costs (7,543) (8,599) (16,657)
General and administrative
costs (2,560) (2,210) (4,616)
Other operating income 5 2,401 240 854
Operating loss (7,675) (10,545) (20,376)
Finance income 6 893 188 320
Finance expense 7 - (616) (911)
---------------------------- ----- -------------- -------------- -----------
Loss before income taxes (6,782) (10,973) (20,967)
Tax credit on loss on
ordinary activities 1,457 1,404 3,352
---------------------------- ----- -------------- -------------- -----------
Total comprehensive loss
for the period (5,325) (9,569) (17,615)
---------------------------- ----- -------------- -------------- -----------
Total comprehensive loss
attributable to:
- Equity owners of the
Company (5,325) (9,569) (17,615)
---------------------------- ----- -------------- -------------- -----------
Basic and diluted loss
per share 8 (16.8p) (30.2p) (55.7p)
---------------------------- ----- -------------- -------------- -----------
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
as at 30 September 2018
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
---------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 727 685 726
Intangible assets 186 186 186
913 871 912
---------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 1,057 812 1,285
Corporation tax receivable 4,467 3,529 3,010
Investments - bank deposit 5,951 23,923 9,500
Cash and cash equivalents 24,722 21,359 27,911
------------- -------------
36,197 49,623 41,706
------------- -------------
Total assets 37,110 50,494 42,618
----------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Equity
Equity attributable to owners of the Company
Share capital 316 31,646 316
Share premium 97,704 97,704 97,704
Capital redemption reserve 40,294 8,964 40,294
Merger reserve 2,223 2,223 2,223
Accumulated losses (108,629) (96,381) (103,868)
----------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Total equity 31,908 44,156 36,669
----------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Trade and other payables 5,202 6,338 5,949
----------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Total liabilities 5,202 6,338 5,949
Total equity and liabilities 37,110 50,494 42,618
----------------------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ----------
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
for the six months ended 30 September 2018
Share Capital
Share premium Redemption Merger Accumulated Total
losses
capital account Reserve reserve Equity
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
---------- -------- ----------- -------- ------------ --------
As at 1 April
2017 31,646 97,704 8,964 2,223 (87,380) 53,157
Share-based credit - - - - 568 568
Loss for the
period - - - - (9,569) (9,569)
As at 30 September
2017 31,646 97,704 8,964 2,223 (96,381) 44,156
Effect of share
consolidation (31,330) - 31,330 - - -
Share-based credit - - - - 559 559
Loss for the
period - - - - (8,046) (8,046)
As at 31 March
2018 316 97,704 40,294 2,223 (103,868) 36,669
Share-based credit - - - - 564 564
Loss for the
period - - - - (5,325) (5,325)
As at 30 September
2018 316 97,704 40,294 2,223 (108,629) 31,908
-------------------- --------- -------- ----------- -------- ------------ --------
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
for the six months ended 30 September 2018
Six months Six months Year ended
ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
Note GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------------------------------- ----- ------------- ------------- -----------
Cash consumed by operations 9 (7,541) (9,221) (19,244)
Income tax credit received - 1,890 4,357
Cash outflow from operating
activities (7,541) (7,331) (14,887)
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditure (133) (72) (235)
Interest received 188 240 383
------------- ------------- -----------
Net cash generated by investing
activities 55 168 148
Cash flows from financing activities
Bank deposit matured 4,297 397 14,525
Net cash generated by financing
activities 4,297 397 14,525
-------------------------------------- ----- ------------- ------------- -----------
Net decrease in cash and cash
equivalents (3,189) (6,766) (214)
Cash and cash equivalents at
the start of period 27,911 28,125 28,125
Cash and cash equivalents at
the end of period 24,722 21,359 27,911
-------------------------------------- ----- ------------- ------------- -----------
Notes to the interim financial statements
for the six months ended 30 September 2018
1. General information and basis of preparation
ReNeuron Group plc is an AIM listed company incorporated and
domiciled in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act 2006. The
Company's registered office and its principal place of business is
Pencoed Business Park, Pencoed, Bridgend, CF35 5HY.
These Interim Financial Statements were prepared by the
Directors and approved for issue on 14 December 2018. They have not
been audited.
These Interim Financial Statements do not comprise statutory
accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act
2006. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2018 were
approved by the Board of Directors on 19 July 2018 and delivered to
the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on those
accounts was unqualified and did not contain statements under 498
(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 and did not contain any
emphasis of matter.
As permitted these Interim Financial Statements have been
prepared in accordance with UK AIM rules and the IAS 34, 'Interim
financial reporting' as adopted by the European Union. They should
be read in conjunction with the Annual Financial Statements for the
year ended 31 March 2018, which have been prepared in accordance
with IFRS as adopted by the European Union.
2. Accounting policies
The accounting policies applied are consistent with those of the
Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2018, as
described in those Annual Financial Statements. Where new standards
or amendments to existing standards have become effective during
the year, there has been no material impact on the net assets or
results of the Group.
Certain statements within this report are forward looking. The
expectations reflected in these statements are considered
reasonable. However, no assurance can be given that they are
correct. As these statements involve risks and uncertainties the
actual results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied by these statements.
3. Going concern
The Group is expected to incur significant further costs as it
continues to develop its therapies and technologies through
clinical development. The operation of the Group is currently being
financed from funds that have been raised from share placings and
grants.
The Directors expect that the Group's current financial
resources will be sufficient to support operations for at least the
next 12 months from the date of this report. The Directors are
currently considering a number of options for further funding and
believe that sufficient funding will be available beyond current
cash resources in order to continue with the Group's ongoing
clinical programmes. Consequently, the going concern basis has been
adopted in the preparation of these interim financial
statements.
4. Segment information
The Group has identified the Chief Executive Officer as the
chief operating decision maker (CODM). The CODM manages the
business as one segment, the development of cell-based therapies,
and assets are predominantly based in the UK. Since this is the
only reporting segment, no further information is included. The
information used internally by the CODM is the same as that
disclosed in the interim financial statements. The Group's revenue
derives wholly from assets located in the United Kingdom. Analysed
by location of customer all revenue is derived from the United
States of America.
5. Other operating income
Six months Six months Year ended
ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------- ------------- -----------
Government grants 508 240 854
Exclusivity fee 1,893 - -
2,401 240 854
------------------- ------------- ------------- -----------
6. Finance income
Six months Six months Year ended
ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------- ------------- -----------
Interest received 146 188 320
Foreign exchange gains 747 - -
893 188 320
------------------------ ------------- ------------- -----------
7. Finance expense
Six months Six months Year ended
ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
-------------- ------------- -----------
Foreign exchange losses - 616 911
========================= ============== ============= ===========
8. Basic and diluted loss per share
The basic and diluted loss per share is calculated by dividing
the loss for the financial period of GBP5,325,000 (September 2017:
GBP9,569,000, March 2018: GBP17,615,000) by 31,646,186 shares
(September 2017 and March 2018: 31,646,186 shares), being the
weighted average number of ordinary 1p shares in issue during the
period. Potential ordinary shares are not treated as dilutive as
the entity is loss-making. The comparative figure for September
2017 has been adjusted to reflect the 1 for 100 share consolidation
which took place in January 2018.
9. Cash consumed by operations
Six months Six months Year ended
ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2018 2017 2018
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
------------------------------ ------------- ------------- -----------
Loss before income tax (6,782) (10,973) (20,967)
Adjustment for:
Finance income (893) (188) (320)
Depreciation of tangible
fixed assets 137 110 232
Share-based payment charge 564 568 1,127
Finance expense - 616 911
Changes in working capital
Receivables 186 196 (289)
Payables (753) 450 62
Cash consumed by operations (7,541) (9,221) (19,244)
------------------------------ ------------- ------------- -----------
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
IR FFAFWDFASEDE
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 14, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Reneuron (LSE:RENE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Reneuron (LSE:RENE)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024