ReNeuron Group plc (the “Company”) (AIM: RENE), a leading UK-based stem cell therapy development company, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a £2.1 million grant from Innovate UK to further advance its emerging exosome nanomedicine platform.
The grant, entitled “Stem cell-derived exosomes for regenerative medicine”, has been awarded under Innovate UK’s Developing Regenerative Medicine & Cell Therapies” grant scheme and will fund a collaborative programme of work to be undertaken by ReNeuron, as lead participant, and its collaborators on the grant, the Cell Therapy Catapult and the Department of Biochemical Engineering at University College London.
The grant will fund key pre-clinical development work packages relating to ReNeuron’s exosome nanomedicine platform. These include the development of robust manufacturing systems utilising scalable bioreactors and purification technologies that will enable the production of ReNeuron’s exosomes at a commercial scale. The work programme also includes product characterisation and potency assay development as well as pre-clinical efficacy and toxicity testing of the selected exosome nanomedicine candidate.
ReNeuron is exploiting the therapeutic potential of exosomes derived from its proprietary stem cell lines. The Company is also exploring the potential of its exosomes as a delivery system for gene therapy treatments. Exosomes are lipid-based nanoparticles secreted from all cells and which are believed to play a key role in the transfer of beneficial proteins and particularly non-coding RNAs from one cell to another. ReNeuron’s researchers have identified a novel mechanism by which exosomes from its clinical-grade CTX stem cells may inhibit the growth and migration of cancer cells in pre-clinical models of the disease. ReNeuron has filed multiple patent applications covering the composition, manufacture and therapeutic use of its exosome nanomedicine platform and the Company is continuing to investigate the mechanism of action and utility of its exosome nanomedicine platform in a range of potential cancer indications.
Commenting on the grant award, Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron, said: “ReNeuron is a global leader in the exciting new field of exosome therapeutics and we are therefore delighted to have won this prestigious grant from Innovate UK. The grant application process was highly competitive and subjected our exosome nanomedicine programme to expert technical peer review. As a result, the award of the grant represents a strong endorsement of the potential of this emerging advanced therapy platform and will enable us to rapidly progress its development towards initial clinical application.”