Key milestone in stem cell company ReNeuron’s plans to move to Wales as part of £33m investment
15 Apr 2014 04:16 PM
ReNeuron – the pioneering stem cell
regenerative therapy company that is relocating to Wales as part of a
£33m investment – has signed an agreement with the Welsh Government
to lease a landmark building at Pencoed Technology Park, adjacent to the M4
motorway near Bridgend
The
agreement marks a key milestone in plans to create what will be one of the
foremost facilities in the UK for manufacturing novel therapeutic stem cell
products, to scale, and in an automated manner.
ReNeuron plans to relocate its existing jobs and create
up to a further 70 new highly skilled jobs in Wales. The Aim-listed company is
taking over the entire ground floor of the building, more than 25,000 sq.ft. in
size.
ReNeuron is the first company in the world to have been
granted permission to run clinical trials using neural stem cells to treat
patients left disabled by the effects of strokes, one of the top three causes
of death.
It
has also started clinical trials with its cell therapy candidate for critical
limb ischaemia , a serious and common side effect of diabetes, and is also
developing therapies for diseases of the eye that lead to progressive
loss of sight.
Detailed design work is underway to provide a
state-of-the-art facility for ReNeuron to include research and development
laboratories, GMP clean rooms designed for automated cell culture, and
office accommodation, with scope to expand further if required in the future.
The facility will be almost three times the size of ReNeuron’s
existing base in Guildford.
The
Welsh Government is supporting the establishment of the cell manufacturing and
development facility for ReNeuron’s late-stage clinical and commercial
product requirements. The financial package awarded to ReNeuron last year
includes a £5m equity investment from the £100m Wales Life Sciences
Investment Fund managed by Arthurian Life Sciences.
The
new facility is due to be handed over in April 2015 and is expected to be
licensed for GMP cell manufacture from 2016 onwards.
Economy Minister Edwina Hart said:
“I am delighted that plans are now well underway
for ReNeuron’s relocation to Wales. Life sciences is one of our priority
economic sectors and regenerative medicine is fast becoming an emerging area
for Wales thanks to the presence of some world class
researchers.
“We have ambitious plans to grow this sector and
build on our existing strengths. Attracting a company of the calibre of
ReNeuron is central to this strategy. Their pioneering work is renowned
internationally and the decision to move to Wales has created interest around
the world.
“We have received a number of serious enquiries
from other companies working in this field on the back of ReNeuron’s
announcement to relocate. They are considering expanding into Wales to join a
growing cluster of life science companies in the Bridgend area.”
Michael Hunt, CEO of ReNeuron said:
“We are delighted to have signed an agreement to
lease this landmark building in South Wales, which marks a further significant
step in ReNeuron’s commercialisation strategy. When complete, we
believe the building will house the UK’s most advanced commercial cell
therapy manufacturing facility and we are delighted to continue to work with
the Welsh Government to bring this important project to
fruition.
“Taking full control of the manufacture of our
cell-based therapies is a key value driver for our business, reducing risk and
enabling considerable future cost savings through manufacturing efficiencies
and downstream economies of scale. Combined with the recent success we have
achieved in developing off-the-shelf cryopreserved cell therapy candidates, we
believe we are at the forefront in creating a commercially viable cell therapy
business.”