New funding to advance fetal stem cell therapy to the clinic

One of Europe’s leading stem cell companies, ReNeuron Group plc raised GBP5.5 million to pay for a Phase I US clinical trial of ReN001, its lead fetal stem-cell product in treating stroke.

Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer said the new money would to drive the company’s transition to a clinical stage stem-cell development company. “The fundraising provides the company with a strong financial base, which we intend to convert into solid clinical achievement in stroke and accelerated development of a highly promising pipeline of stem cell therapies addressing other significant areas of unmet medical need.”

Currently, the company is working on a response to questions raised by the US FDA over its application to conduct the Phase I trial. If it gets the go ahead, it will be the first clinical trial of a standardised off-the-shelf foetal cell stem therapy.